John Beverley (ontologist)
John Beverley | |
|---|---|
Portrait of John Beverley | |
| Born | 8 April 1983 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Education | North Carolina State University University at Buffalo Northwestern University (PhD, 2021) |
| Known for | Basic Formal Ontology Common Core Ontologies VIDO |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Applied ontology Philosophy Logic Biomedical informatics |
| Institutions | University at Buffalo Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Science Applications International Corporation KaDSci |
| Thesis | Responsibility Where We Find It (2021) |
| Website | johnbeverley |
John Beverley (born April 8, 1983) is an American philosopher and ontologist. He is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo, where he co-directs the National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR).[1]
Education and career
Beverley earned a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy from North Carolina State University, followed by a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University at Buffalo in 2017. He completed his PhD at Northwestern University in 2021 with a dissertation titled Responsibility Where We Find It.[2]
Beverley has held senior ontology consulting roles at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Science Applications International Corporation, and KaDSci.[3] He joined the faculty at the University at Buffalo in 2022.
Research
Beverley's work spans applied ontology, logic, and knowledge representation. He is a co-lead developer of the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), a top-level ontology that was adopted as an international standard under ISO/IEC 21838-2:2021.[4] He is a member of the governance board for the Common Core Ontologies suite that extends from BFO and which is widely used in government and defense domains.[5][6]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Beverley co-authored several ontologies aimed at supporting infectious disease data integration, including the Virus Infectious Disease Ontology (VIDO) and the Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO).[7][8]
In 2024, Beverley was awarded a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Health to study the ontological foundations of aging and loneliness through the development of interoperable psychological data models.[9][10]
Editorial and public roles
Beverley serves on the editorial board of the journal Applied Ontology and has edited special issues on the intersection of ontologies and large language models.[11] He is co-director of the National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR), a research and training initiative based in Buffalo, NY.[12]
In 2024, Beverley was interviewed for the Association Philosophy Association (APA) Blog, where he discussed the opportunities and limitations involved in efforts to leverage applied ontology in the defense and intelligence sectors.[13]
Selected publications
- Beverley, J. et al. (2024). "Coordinating virus research: The Virus Infectious Disease Ontology." PLoS ONE, 19(1): e0285093. doi:[10.1371/journal.pone.0285093](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285093).
- He, Y., Beverley, J., et al. (2020). "CIDO: A community-based coronavirus ontology." Scientific Data, 7(1). doi:[10.1038/s41597-020-0523-6](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0523-6).
- Beverley, J., Otte, J. N., Ruttenberg, A. (2022). "Formalizing change in Basic Formal Ontology." Applied Ontology, 17(1): 17–43.
References
- ^ "Faculty Profile: John Beverley". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "Responsibility Where We Find It". PhilArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae". John Beverley. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "ISO/IEC 21838-2:2021". International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "Common Core Ontologies Governance Board". Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ Gambini, Bert. "Federal agencies adopt resource developed by UB ontologists". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ Beverley, John; Babcock, Shane; Carvalho, Gustavo; Cowell, Lindsay; Duesing, Sebastian; He, Yongqun; Hurley, Regina; Merrell, Eric; Scheuermann, Richard; Smith, Barry (2024). "Coordinating virus research: The Virus Infectious Disease Ontology". PLOS ONE. 19 (1) e0285093. Bibcode:2024PLoSO..1985093B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0285093. PMC 10796065. PMID 38236918.
- ^ He, Yongqun; Yu, Hong; Ong, Edison; Wang, Yang; Liu, Yingtong; Huffman, Anthony; Huang, Hsin-hui; Beverley, John; Hur, Junguk (2020). "CIDO, a community-based ontology for coronavirus disease knowledge and data integration". Scientific Data. 7 (1). doi:10.1038/s41597-020-0523-6. PMC 7293349.
- ^ Gambini, Bert. "UB philosopher awarded $3.8 million NIH grant on aging and loneliness". University at Buffalo. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Promoting Health Aging through Semantic Enrichment of Solitude Research (PHASES)". National Institute of Health. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "Applied Ontology - Editorial Board". IOS Press. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ "People". NCOR. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ Taben, Charlie (22 May 2024). "Commercializing Ontology: Lucrative Failure or Necessary Risk?". APA Substack Newsletter: Public Philosophy Digest. Retrieved 3 July 2025.