Steven L. Tanimoto

Also known as Steve Tanimoto

Steve Tanimoto is a University of Washington computer scientist whose work runs from hierarchical image processing to AI-assisted learning tools. He earned a Harvard bachelor's degree in 1971 and a Princeton Ph.D. in 1975 under Theodosios Pavlidis, then co-edited Structured Computer Vision in 1980. He edited IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence from 1986 to 1990, wrote The Elements of Artificial Intelligence in 1987, and became a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition in 2000. His 2012 MIT Press textbook, An Interdisciplinary Introduction to Image Processing, followed an NSF project, and his 2015 collaborative problem-solving demonstration won the VL/HCC Best Showpiece Award. He is a professor in the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, and in 2025 he coauthored Codetations, a system that attaches notes to code with help from a large language model.

Now at: University of Washington
Born: 1949
Works: 187
Citations: 3,687
h-index: 24
Badges: Loyal
Pioneer

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

1971–1975

Harvard and a Princeton doctorate

He earns a bachelor's degree at Harvard in 1971 and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Princeton in 1975. His dissertation, Hierarchical Approaches to Picture Processing, is supervised by Theodosios Pavlidis.
1977–1980

Picture segmentation and Structured Computer Vision

In 1977, he and Theodosios Pavlidis publish "The Editing of Picture Segmentations Using Local Analysis of Graphs" in Communications of the ACM. In 1980, he and Allen Klinger edit Structured Computer Vision: Machine Perception through Hierarchical Computation Structures for Academic Press.
1986–1990

Editor-in-chief of IEEE TPAMI

From July 1986 to December 1990, he is editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, taking over from Theo Pavlidis.
1987

The Elements of Artificial Intelligence

In 1987, Computer Science Press publishes his textbook The Elements of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction Using LISP, volume 11 of its Principles of Computer Science series.
2000

IAPR Fellow for image processing

In 2000, the International Association for Pattern Recognition names him a Fellow for contributions to image processing.
2012

An image processing textbook

MIT Press publishes his textbook An Interdisciplinary Introduction to Image Processing: Pixels, Numbers, and Programs in May 2012. It follows his NSF project Mathematics Experiences Through Image Processing, whose software began as the Pixel Calculator and led to PixelMath2015, an environment for exploring image processing with formulas and Python programs.
2015–2020

Live programming and problem solving

In 2015, he gives a keynote at the International Conference on Live Coding in Leeds, and his collaborative problem-solving demonstration "Solving Problems by Drawing Solution Paths" wins the VL/HCC Best Showpiece Award. He serves as program co-chair for VL/HCC 2020 in Dunedin, New Zealand. His tools for solving complex problems help students formulate problems so that artificial intelligence techniques can amplify the power of human solvers.
As of October 2026

Professor at the Allen School

He is a professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, with an adjunct appointment in Electrical & Computer Engineering. In April 2025, he coauthors Codetations with Edward Misback, Erik Vank and Zachary Tatlock, a system that attaches notes to code with a hybrid edit-tracking and LLM-based method. In 2025, he also serves on the program committee of the PX/25 workshop at the Programming 2025 conference in Prague.