Michael Shamos

I am known principally for having started the field of Computational Geometry and co-written (with Franco Preparata) its first textbook.  I have been associated with Carnegie Mellon since 1975 and have taught in the Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics, the Tepper School of Business, the Institute for Software Research and the Language Technologies Institute. Since 2001, I have been a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong. For 18 years I was Director of CMU's graduate program in eBusiness Technology.  Prior to that, I was an intellectual propety lawyer and founder of two Pittsburgh software companies, Unilogic, Ltd. (document production software) and Lexeme Corporation (automated translation of computer source languages).  I was general counsel to Carnegie Group. Inc., an artificial intelligence company founded by four faculty members in the Computer Science Department.  For 25 years I served as a statutory exmane of electornic voting systems for Pennsylvania and five other states.  My current outside consulting work is primarily as an expert witness in computer software cases, particularly involving Internet patents.

I feel strongly that skills can be learned only by exercising them, and that classroom education is not nearly as effective as working in teams on real development projects.  My focus in the MSAII program is on intrapreneurial and entreprenurial development of AI applications, particular to new and unexplored markets.

I have an A.B. in Physics from Princeton University, an M.A. in Physics from Vassar College, and M.S. in Technology of Management from American University, an M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Yale University and a J.D. from Duquesne University.  I am admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Supreme Court of the United States.