Tim Finin
Tim Finin researches knowledge graphs, natural-language processing and AI information systems. His work studies knowledge sharing and applications to security and text analysis. Finin earned a 1980 Illinois computer-science doctorate supervised by David Waltz. His dissertation studied semantic interpretation of compound nominals. From 1987 to 1991, he was technical director for knowledge-based information processing at Unisys. He served on the Pennsylvania faculty from 1980 to 1987. He became a UMBC professor in 1991 and director of its Center for AI in 2023. His research covers knowledge graphs, language and machine-learning applications to information systems.
- Now at
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Works
- 611
- Citations
- 28,971
- h-index
- 82
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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1980
Language-understanding doctorate
Finin earned a 1980 Illinois computer-science doctorate supervised by David Waltz. His dissertation studied semantic interpretation of compound nominals.
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1987–1991
Knowledge-based industrial research
From 1987 to 1991, he was technical director for knowledge-based information processing at Unisys. He served on the Pennsylvania faculty from 1980 to 1987.
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1991–2023
UMBC research
He became a UMBC professor in 1991 and director of its Center for AI in 2023. His research covers knowledge graphs, language and machine-learning applications to information systems.
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As of October 2026
Knowledge and connected systems
His work covers the Semantic Web, intelligent agents and language processing. These topics connect explicit knowledge with information exchanged across systems.
Sources and credits
Photo: Finin, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
