David Gelernter
David Gelernter | |
|---|---|
Gelernter in 2011 | |
| Born | David Hillel Gelernter March 5, 1955 |
| Alma mater | Yale University (BA, MA) Stony Brook University (PhD) |
| Spouse | Jane Reader |
| Awards | Member of the National Council on the Arts (2003) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | Yale University (1982–2026) |
| Thesis | An Integrated Microcomputer Network for Experiments in Distributed Processing (1982) |
| Doctoral advisor | Arthur Bernstein |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | / |
David Hillel Gelernter (born March 5, 1955) is an American computer scientist and writer. He was a professor of computer science at Yale University.
Gelernter is known for contributions to parallel computation in the 1980s, and for books on topics such as computed worlds (Mirror Worlds) and America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered in the Obamacrats), that liberal academia has a destructive influence on American society.
In 1993, Gelernter was sent a mail bomb by Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. He opened it and the resulting explosion almost killed him, leaving him with loss of use of his right hand as it destroyed four fingers, and permanent damage to his right eye.
Gelernter had a six-year correspondence with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from 2009 to 2015, and in 2026 was "relieved" of his teaching duties by Yale when their emails were publicly revealed following the Epstein Files Transparency Act.