From the Boston Globe (via John Richardson at the OU):

Seymour Papert, a professor emeritus at MIT who is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence and an authority on how computers can help children learn, was seriously injured after being struck by a motorbike in Hanoi, where he was attending a conference.

The accident on Tuesday left Papert, 78, in a coma. He underwent brain surgery at French Hospital, hospital officials said.

Papert was one of the strongest influences on my career – I had the great fortune to meet him a few times in my formative years as a graduate student, and the directions I pursued (especially on teaching novices programming) were a direct spinoff of his profound thinking and activities. Let’s hope, along with the numerous others writing and reading about this, that he recovers from this tragic accident, and soon.

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