Computer science pioneer Zohar Manna dies

Zohar Manna, who pioneered theoretical computer science techniques that today help form the basis for artificial intelligence and for reliable software, died at his home in Israel. In a career that spanned nearly 50 years, he trained 30 PhD students and wrote nine books and numerous articles. Zohar Manna, a pioneering computer science theorist and Stanford professor emeritus of computer science, died at his home in Netanya, Israel, on Aug. 30, surrounded by his family. He was 79. Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, Manna pioneered two fields that were once at the theoretical edge of computing but which today help form the foundations for artificial intelligence and assure the reliability of extraordinarily complex software. One of these fields was program synthesis, an important aspect of what is sometimes called automated reasoning.