Saul Amarel, 74; Scientist Pioneered Artificial Intelligence

Saul Amarel, a pioneer in artificial intelligence and founder of the computer science department at Rutgers University, died Wednesday of cancer in New Brunswick, N.J. He was 74.

Amarel was known internationally for his work in computer simulations, network synthesis and “hypercomputing,” and for organizing collaborations of scientists in using artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence combines science and engineering to understand how humans and machines process information, then applies that knowledge in designing machines smart enough to do human tasks and ones beyond human intelligence.

A native of Greece, Amarel and his family fled the country in 1942 for what was then British Mandatory Palestine. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1948 at the Institute of Technology in Haifa while fighting for Israeli independence. He later led projects until 1952 for the scientific department of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

After earning a doctorate in engineering science at Columbia, Amarel led the computer theory group at RCA Sarnoff Labs in Princeton from 1958 to 1969. The same year, he founded the Rutgers computer science program, which he chaired until 1984.