Scienceארי רפופורט

Ari Rappoport

Ari Rappoport was an Israeli computer scientist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who later developed theories about brain function and disease.

1962 to 2025Sarcasm detection algorithmNatural language processing researchTheories of brain disordersFounding Proficiency

Occupation: professor, computer scientist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ari Rappoport was born in 1962

Rappoport was born in 1962 and grew up in Jerusalem. His father, Zvi Rappoport, was a chemistry professor. He attended the Hebrew Gymnasium Rehavia and finished school there in 1980.

After his army service in Unit 8200, he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1985 to 1987. He then wrote his doctorate there from 1987 to 1990 under Lawrence Rudolph, on data structures and algorithms for computer graphics and geometric sampling.

In 1991 he joined the School of Computer Science at the Hebrew University and later became a full professor. He worked on computational semantics and natural language processing. In 1998 he founded the startup Proficiency, which made CAD/CAM collaboration software, and in 2010 he and two doctoral students developed an algorithm for detecting sarcasm that Time magazine listed among the 50 inventions of the year.

In his later years he turned to neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry. In 2019 he founded the language learning company MagniLEARN. In 2025 Elsevier published his book The Science of the Brain, which offered explanations for several psychiatric and neurological conditions.

He was married twice and had 5 children. He died of lung cancer on June 23, 2025.