Saul Amarel (1928 – December 18, 2002) was a professor of computer science atRutgers University, and best known for his pioneering work inartificial intelligence (AI). He also had a career as ascientist,engineer, andteacher. He was a contributor to advanced computing and AI methodologies, both applied to scientific inquiry as well as engineering practice.

Amarel was born into aThessaloniki,GreekJewish family in 1928.^[1] He served in theGreek Resistance movement duringWorld War II as theGermans invaded Greece. He was forced to flee with his family toGaza, which was then inBritish Palestine.

Amarel graduated fromTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in engineering and worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense before heading to the United States. There he obtained his master's degree in 1953 and then a doctorate in Electrical Engineering in 1955 fromColumbia University inNew York.

From 1958 to 1969, Amarel led the Computer Theory Research Group atRCA Sarnoff Labs.

In 1969, Amarel founded the Department ofComputer Science atLivingston College ofRutgers University, inNew Brunswick, New Jersey.

From 1985 to 1988, Amarel served as Director of the Information Sciences and Technology Office for theDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In 1988, Amarel returned to Rutgers and was appointed theAlan M. Turing Professor of Computer Science, pioneering research in the field of AI.

Amarel received theAllen Newell Award from theAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM) for his wide-ranging contributions to Artificial Intelligence, especially in advancing our understanding of the role of representation in problem solving, and of the theory and practice of computational planning.^[2] He was elected a Fellow of theAssociation for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in 1990^[3] and of theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1994.

Amarel lived inPrinceton, New Jersey, where he died in 2002 from a heart attack following a six-year battle with cancer.^[4] This occurred just as the celebration of his retirement from Rutgers University, after more than 40 years of leadership in computer science nationally and internationally, was under preparation for December 20, 2002.

• AI Article^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Article from Smart Computing
• Oral history interview with Saul Amarel,Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

• 1928 births
• 2002 deaths
• Greek Jews
• Jews from Thessaloniki
• Jews in the Greek resistance
• Greek emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
• Israeli emigrants to the United States
• American people of Greek-Jewish descent
• Rutgers University faculty
• Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
• Jewish American scientists
• People from Princeton, New Jersey
• Israeli people of Greek-Jewish descent
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• 20th-century Greek Jews
• Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

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