History of Speech and Language Technology

Louis C.W. Pols has been since 1982 a full professor in Phonetic Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and Director of the Institute of Phonetic Sciences. Although he formally retired in June 2005 and was succeeded by Paul Boersma, he is still active in many ways. Having completed his undergraduate work in Physics at the Technological University in Delft in 1964, Louis Pols went to the TNO Institute for Perception in Soesterberg, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1977 in the Speech and Hearing Department. He remained at that institute until 1982 when he received his appointment at the University of Amsterdam. As Director of the Institute of Phonetic Sciences, he has guided research in a variety of areas leading to 23 dissertations so far. His own work has contributed significantly to our understanding of speech production and perception, to improved speech synthesis, and to the creation of measures for evaluating speech synthesis systems.

Additional information on Professor Pols can be found at:
http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/pols/
and at:
http://home.medewerkers.uva.nl/l.c.w.pols/

An interview was conducted with Professor Pols at Interspeech 2005, the 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal, September 4-8, 2005, by Dr. Janet Baker. The text of this interview has not yet been transcribed, but a brief excerpt of the recorded interview is available.

Brief excerpt of recorded interview.