John McCarthy

  • Birth

    John McCarthy was born
  • Enrolled at California Institute of Technology

    Enrolled at the age of 16 after graduating high school two years early
  • Received Ph.D. from Princeton University in Mathematics

  • Became assistant professor of mathematics at Stanford University

  • Coined term "artificial intelligence"

  • Joined MIT as a research fellow

  • Organized Dartmouth Conference

    This conference is considered the start of artificial intelligence as a field of
  • Invented Lisp

    Programming language of choice for AI programs
  • Moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Started Artificial Intelligence Project there with Marvin Minsky
  • Invented "garbage collection"

    Methods to improve memory management of Lisp
  • Time-sharing

    Writes memo at MIT that leads to establishment of committee dedicated to developing time-sharing system
  • Co-Founded Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT

    Co-founded lab with AI pioneer Marvin Minksy
  • Became full professor at Stanford University

    Became full professor at Stanford University
  • Helped establish Stanford AI Laboratory

  • Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

    Served one year tenure as President
  • Received Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology

    Received Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology
  • Received National Medal of Science for Mathematics and Computer Science

    Received National Medal of Science for Mathematics and Computer Science
    For his fundamental contributions to the fields of computer science and artificial intelligence