Julia B. Hirschberg

Julia B. Hirschberg

Percy K. and Vida L. W. Hudson Professor of Computer Science

Julia B. Hirschberg studies the prosody—intonation and melody—of speech, with the goal of teaching computers to understand subtle variations and reproduce them in natural-sounding speech.

This involves understanding how prosody changes under different circumstances. Hirschberg established Columbia’s Spoken Language Processing Group.

Hirschberg has analyzed the prosody of charismatic and deceptive speech and developed a computer system that is more successful than humans at detecting lies. She studies entrainment— the tendency of people to mirror back the spoken mannerisms of those who are speaking to them—in voice-response systems. Hirschberg also does research on emotional speech, code-switching, and text-to-speech synthesis.

Hirschberg received a BA from Eckerd College in 1968 and a PhD in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. She also received a PhD in history from the University of Michigan in 1976. She holds six patents for text-to-speech synthesis and audio browsing/retrieval. She is a fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the International Speech Communication Association, the Association for Computational Linguistics, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is a founding fellow of the Association for Computational Linguistics.  She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.

Research Areas

  • Natural Language Processing and Speech

Additional information

  • Professional Experience
    • Percy K. and Vida L. W. Hudson Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University, 2013–
    • Chair of Computer Science, Columbia University, 2012–2018
    • Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University, 2002–
    • Technology Leader, Human-Computer Interface Research Department, AT&T Labs Research, Florham Park, 2000–2003
    • Division Manager, Human-Computer Interface Research Department, AT&T Labs Research, Florham Park, 1996–2000
    • Member of Technical Staff, Linguistics Research Department, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, 1985–1994
    • Smith College, Assistant Professor of History, 1977-82
    • Smith College, Instructor in History, 1974-77
  • Professional Affiliations
    • Founding Fellow, Association for Computational Linguistics, 2011
    • Fellow, American Association for Artificial Intelligence, 1994
    • Fellow, International Speech Communication Association, 2008
    • Fellow, Association for Computing Machinery, 2016
    • Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2017
    • Member, National Academy of Engineering, 2017
    • Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2018
  • Honors & Awards
    • Elected to American Philosophical Society, 2014
    • James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award, IEEE, 2011
    • ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement, 2011
    • Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, 2009
    • Honorary doctorate, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007
       
  • Education
    • PhD, Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1985
    • MSEE, Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1982
    • PhD, History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1976
    • BA, Florida Presbyterian College, 1968