Barwise Award: Regina Ta ('23) and Erica Yoon

Congratulations to Symbolic Systems graduate Regina Ta ('23) and former Symbolic Systems Teaching Coordinator Erica Yoon, who are each recipients this year of the Symbolic Systems Program's Barwise Award.

The K. Jon Barwise Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Symbolic Systems Program was inaugurated in 2001, in honor of the late Kenneth Jon Barwise, Professor in the Department of Philosophy, who served as the first faculty director of Symbolic Systems and a member of the program's founding committee. Jon's untimely death from cancer in 2000 saddened all who knew him. He was an influential logician, mathematician, and philosopher, who came to Stanford in 1983 to co-found the Center for the Study of Language and Information, the research laboratory that spawned the Symbolic Systems Program and to which we maintain close ties to this day. Professor Barwise co-wrote (with John Etchemendy) the textbook Language, Proof, and Logic, and he gave our program its name: "Symbolic Systems". Award recipients each receive a certificate and a monetary award.

Regina receives the K. Jon Barwise Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Symbolic Systems Program for her deep contributions to the program, including event organizing, conscientious outreach to students, and dedication to the SymSys Society.

Erica, a Stanford Psychology PhD from the class of 2019, was our first Symbolic Systems 1 course coordinator. Erica is an incredibly talented teacher and mentor, and she receives the K. Jon Barwise Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Symbolic Systems Program for her immense contributions to SymSys 1. With her help, we launched a re-designed introductory course in the Fall of 2020, just as the pandemic had moved classes online. Despite this immense challenge, Erica successfully guided five classes of SymSys 1 through the new course, including one quarter as lead instructor. Students celebrated her caring, organized, and inspiring teaching. We at the program miss her but are happy that she has a wonderful position in the area as Assistant Professor of Psychology at San Mateo Community College.