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George M. Ferguson

Associate Professor (Instruction)
Co-Director of Undergraduate Program
Department of Computer Science
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-0226
george.ferguson@rochester.edu
585-275-5766

In my research career, I worked at the intersection of human-computer interaction and intelligent decision support, designing and building computer systems that interact naturally to help people solve problem.

Director of Media Arts and Innovation Center Instructor, Computer Science Department

Education
Ph. D.Computer ScienceUniversity of Rochester1995
M. Sc.Computer ScienceUniversity of Rochester1989
M. Sc.Computing ScienceUniversity of Alberta1989
B. Sc.Math & Computer Science
(Magna Cum Laude)
McGill University1987
Employment
2018- Associate Professor (Teaching), Co-Director of Undergraduate Program, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Rochester
2015-2017 Senior Lecturer, Assoc. Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Rochester
2013-2015 Director of Programming and Operations, Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation University of Rochester
1997-2013 Research Scientist, University of Rochester
1995-1997 Post-doctoral Researcher, Research Associate, University of Rochester
1990-1994 Research Assistant, University of Rochester
Research
Developed Intelligent Conversational Assistants based on deep, formal models of natural language understanding and collaboration and applied these to problems ranging from logistics to health care to command and control.

Areas of Expertise: Artificial intelligence; Intelligent agents: agent communication languages, agent architectures; User interfaces: speech recognition, natural language understanding, dialogue, conversational agents; User-centered design; Temporal reasoning: representation, planning, scheduling; Semantic web: ontologies, knowledge-based systems; Medical informatics: electronic medical records, personal health records, patient-centered care, self-care technologies, decision support.

Teaching

At the undergraduate level, I have regularly taught Introductory Programming (Java, Python, Javascript), Web Development, and Artificial Intelligence. I have taught a variety of subjects related to my research at the graduate level. I have also been involved in teaching computing to middle school and high school students, as well as helping high school teachers teach computing.

UR Students’ Association 2018-2019 Professor of the Year in Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Selected Awards and Honors
Publications
Professional Service