Gerhard Fischer (professor)

Gerhard Fischer

Gerhard Fischer at CU Boulder
Nationality German and American
Fields Human-Computer Interaction
Learning Sciences
Institutions University of Colorado, Boulder
Alma mater University of Hamburg
University of Heidelberg
Doctoral advisor Klaus Brunnstein (de)
Herbert A. Simon ("Habilitation")
Doctoral students Stefan Carmien
Melissa Dawe
Rogerio dePaula
Andreas Girgensohn
Scott Henninger
Andreas Lemke
Stefanie Lindstaedt
Thomas Mastaglio
Kumiyo Nakakoji
Jonathan Ostwald
David Redmiles
Brent Reeves
Eric Scharff
Frank Shipman
Gerry Stahl
Curt Stevens
James Sullivan
Tamara Sumner
Yunwen Ye
Notable awards CHI Academy, ACM Fellow

Gerhard Fischer (born ca 1948) is German computer scientist, Professor of Computer Science, a Fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science, and the founder and director of the Center for LifeLong Learning & Design (L3D) at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Academic career

In 1971 he graduated with a Masters (Mathematics and Physical Education) from the University of Heidelberg. With a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), he spent the following two years at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and the University of California, Irvine. He obtained a PhD from the University of Hamburg in Computer Science (1977), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, Cambridge, (working with Seymour Papert and the LOGO community) and Xerox Parc (working with Alan Kay and the Smalltalk community).

From 1978 to 1984 he served as an Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Stuttgart. During these six years, he spent several extended visits at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh to study with Herbert A. Simon who served as the primary advisor for his “Habilitation” degree that he obtained in 1983 from the University of Stuttgart. In 1984 he accepted a position in the Computer Science Department of the University of Colorado, Boulder combined with being a Fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science that he still holds today. During the years at CU Boulder, he spent sabbatical years at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany (1994-1995) and at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (2002-2003). In the Fall of 2012, he was awarded a "Chair of Excellence" at the Charles III University of Madrid (UC3M), Spain.

Work

In his early work at the University of Stuttgart, he explored theoretical frameworks and system developments for Human-Computer Interaction and co-founded conferences in Germany on “Mensch-Maschine Kommunikation” (1980) and “Software Ergonomics” (1983). Later work at CU Boulder was centered on domain-oriented design environments,[1] critiquing systems,[2] and the exploration of high-functionality environments.

In 1994, the Center for LifeLong Learning & Design was founded and in the following years, he (in close collaboration with numerous colleagues, including specifically Ernesto Arias, Hal Eden, Michael Eisenberg, and Walter Kintsch and a large number of PhD students; see information in sidebar) explored themes in meta-design,[3] social creativity,[4] cultures of participation,[5] computer-supported collaborative learning,[6] and support environments for people with cognitive disabilities.[7][8]

He was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy[9] in 2007 and was elected as a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)[10] in 2009, for contributions to human computer interaction and computer-mediated lifelong learning. In 2012, he received the RIGO award from the ACM Special Interest Group on Design of Communication (SIGDOC). He participated in the characterization of numerous NSF research programs (including: Lifelong Learning, Science of Design,[11] Creativity and IT [12]) and he serves on numerous advisory and editorial boards and continues to be involved in combining European and American research traditions.

References

  1. ↑ Fischer, G. (1994) "Domain-Oriented Design Environments," Automated Software Engineering, 1(2), pp. 177-203.
  2. ↑ Fischer, G., Nakakoji, K., Ostwald, J., Stahl, G., & Sumner, T. (1998) "Embedding Critics in Design Environments." In M. T. Maybury, & W. Wahlster (Eds.), Readings in Intelligent User Interfaces, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, pp. 537-559.
  3. ↑ Fischer, G., & Giaccardi, E. (2006) "Meta-Design: A Framework for the Future of End User Development." In H. Lieberman, F. Paternò, & V. Wulf (Eds.), End User Development, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 427-457.
  4. ↑ Fischer, G., Giaccardi, E., Eden, H., Sugimoto, M., & Ye, Y. (2005) "Beyond Binary Choices: Integrating Individual and Social Creativity," International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS) Special Issue on Computer Support for Creativity (E.A. Edmonds & L. Candy, Eds.), 63(4-5), pp. 482-512.
  5. ↑ Fischer, G. (2011) "Understanding, Fostering, and Supporting Cultures of Participation," ACM Interactions XVIII.3 (May + June 2011), pp. 42-53.
  6. ↑ Fischer, G. (2007) "Designing Socio-Technical Environments in Support of Meta-Design and Social Creativity." In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL 2007), Rutgers University, July, pp. 1-10.
  7. ↑ Carmien, S., Dawe, M., Fischer, G., Gorman, A., Kintsch, A., & Sullivan, J. F. (2005) "Socio-Technical Environments Supporting People with Cognitive Disabilities Using Public Transportation," Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (ToCHI), 12(2), pp. 233-262.
  8. ↑ Cognitive Levers Project Home Page, http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/clever/index.html
  9. ↑ CHI Academy, http://www.sigchi.org/about/awards/awards-2007.html
  10. ↑ ACM Fellows Program, http://fellows.acm.org
  11. ↑ NSF Science of Design (SoD) Program, http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04552/nsf04552.htm
  12. ↑ CreativeIT Community Wiki, http://swiki.cs.colorado.edu/CreativeIT/

External links