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	I can enthusiastically recommend Vladimir Lifschitz for an
appointment as a full professor of computer science.

	It is becoming more and more clear that the formalization
of common sense knowledge and reasoning in mathematical logic is
the key to many common problems faced by both artificial
intelligence and philosophy.  In artificial intelligence, it is the
key to the creation of a database of knowledge of the world that
can be used by AI problems working in a great variety of domains
or by a general purpose robot.  In philosophy, I think it is the
key to many problems in the philosophy of action and the philosophy
of mind.

	Lifschitz is the strongest mathematical logician of all
the people who have made significant contributions to the
formalization of common sense.  Most mathematical logicians don't
understand what has to be formalized in order to make a program
that can solve problems involving action.

	Among the people who formalize action, Lifschitz is both
a major contributor and the mathematical conscience of the field.
He is the authority on whether the formalisms really mean what
the originator hopes they mean or whether they have models not
intended by the authors.

	In nonmonotonic reasoning he is the author of several
important variants of circumscription and other nonmonotonic
formalisms.  In my opinion, his pointwise circumscription
contains ideas that will prove necessary for a database of common
sense knowledge that can be used by arbitrary AI programs.

	Also his papers on the properties and relations of different
nonmonotonic formalisms and also their relation to logic programming
have been very influential.

	Lifschitz's lectures are famous for their preparation
and clarity, and he is an excellent teacher.

Sincerely,

%Prof. Per Brinch Hansen, Chair, Sch of Comp Sci & Info Sci, Syracuse U, NY 13244
%Prof. F. Roy Carlson, Jr, Chairman, CSD, USC, LA 90089-0782