Martha Palmer

Martha Palmer is an Arts and Sciences Professor of Distinction for Linguistics and the Helen & Hubert Croft Professor of Engineering in the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. She serves as an Institute of Cognitive Science Faculty Fellow and co-Director of CLEAR, with significant leadership roles including Director of the Professional MS in Computational Linguistics, Analytics, Search, and Informatics (CLASIC).

Her research focuses on computational semantics and automatic representation of complex linguistic structures across multiple languages. Key research areas include:

• Semantic annotation systems for English, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Hindi, and Urdu
• Applications of NLP to biomedical journal articles and clinical notes
• Geoscience text processing and analysis
• Machine learning approaches requiring extensive annotated training data

Dr. Palmer has published over 250 reviewed papers and serves as co-editor of LiLT (Linguistic Issues in Language Technology), with previous editorial roles at Natural Language Engineering and Computational Linguistics. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical AI applications across multiple domains.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• ACL Fellow designation
• BFA 2010 Research Award
• Outstanding Graduate Advisor (2014)
• Pioneering achievement as first woman to earn a Ph.D. in AI from University of Edinburgh (1985)

Dr. Palmer has secured major funding from DARPA, NSF, and NIH for her research initiatives. She previously served as Director of the 2011 Linguistics Institute at CU-Boulder and was Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania before joining Colorado in 2005. Her interdisciplinary work continues to advance both theoretical and applied aspects of computational linguistics.