David A. Plaisted

David A. Plaisted is a Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined UNC-Chapel Hill as a full professor after serving on the faculty of the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign until 1984. His academic career spans several decades with significant contributions to automated reasoning and computational logic.

• Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Chicago (1970)
• Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (1976)

Professor Plaisted's research focuses on mechanical theorem proving, term rewriting systems, logic programming, and algorithms. His work in term-rewriting systems investigates methods of combining them with first-order theorem provers, including techniques for applying efficient permutation group algorithms to equational theorem proving. In mechanical theorem proving, he has developed a sequence of methods including clause linking with semantics and ordered semantic hyper-linking. His research in logic programming includes developing tests to eliminate the occurrence check in Prolog while maintaining semantics. His work spans theoretical foundations to practical applications in program verification and generation.

His recent publications demonstrate continued innovation in automated reasoning, particularly in semantic guidance for theorem proving. His work shows a consistent focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of automated deduction systems, with recent contributions to SGGS (Semantically-Guided Goal-Sensitive) theorem proving and analysis of the relationship between semantics and unification in proof systems.

Professor Plaisted has served on numerous program committees and editorial boards including the Journal of Symbolic Computation, Information Processing Letters, Mathematical Systems Theory, and Fundamenta Informaticae. He is currently on the editorial board of ACM Transactions on Computational Logic and the electronic Journal of Functional and Logic Programming. He has organized significant conferences including serving as co-chair of the Second International Conference on Rewriting Techniques and Applications in 1987.

He has spent several sabbaticals at prestigious institutions including SRI in Menlo Park (1982-1983), the Max-Planck Institute and University of Kaiserslautern in Germany (1993-1994), and research visits to groups in Grenoble and Nancy, France (1998).