Known for formal language theory | Name Michael Harrison Role Computer scientist | |
Doctoral students Oscar H. Ibarra, James N. Gray, Herve Gallaire, Mario Schkolnick, Donald Duell, John C. Beatty, Ivan M. Havel, Arnaldo Moura, Walter (Larry) Ruzzo, Matthew M. Geller, Kimberly N. King, Amiram Yehudai, Pehong Chen, Ethan Munson, Wayne Christopher Education University of Michigan (1963) Books Introduction to Formal Language Theory Awards Guggenheim Fellowship for Natural Sciences, US & Canada | ||
Alma mater University of Michigan | ||
Michael A. Harrison is a computer scientist, in particular a pioneer in the area of formal languages.
Biography
Michael A. Harrison (born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) studied electrical engineering and computing for B.S. and MS, then received a PhD from the University of Michigan in Communication Sciences. He started teaching while a graduate student at Michigan and then joined the faculty of the E.E. Dept at the University of California at Berkeley. He was assistant professor from 1963 to 1966, an associate professor from 1966 to 1971, and a full professor from 1971 to 1994.
In the 1960s, he worked with Sheila Greibach, Gene Rose, Ed Spanier, and Joe Ullian in a research group formed and led by Seymour Ginsburg, dedicated to formal language theory and the foundations of Computer Science. The work that came out of this group distinguished Computer Science theory from other fields. It also brought the field of formal language theory to bear on programming language research. In 1975, he developed the HRU security model (named after its authors Harrison, Ruzzo, Ullman), an operating system level computer security model dealing with the integrity of access rights in the system. With his Ph.D. student Pehong Chen at Berkeley, he founded the "Gain Technology" company (acquired by Sybase in 1992).
Currently, he is professor emeritus and also professor in the graduate school at Berkeley.