Early life and education. Hofstadter was born in New York City to Jewish parents: Nobel Prize-winning physicist Robert Hofstadter and Nancy Givan Hofstadter. He grew up on the campus of Stanford University, where his father was a professor, and attended the International School of Geneva in 1958–59. He graduated with distinction in mathematics from Stanford University in …

The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþi-"fame" and *berhta-"bright" (Hrōþiberhtaz). Compare Old Dutch Robrecht and Old High German Hrodebert (a compound of Hruod (Old Norse: Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and berht "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.

Biografia. Figlio del Premio Nobel per la fisica Robert Hofstadter, si laureò in matematica all'Università di Stanford e conseguì il Ph.D. in fisica nel 1975 presso l'Università dell'Oregon.Ha insegnato informatica all'Università dell'Indiana di Bloomington e al laboratorio di Intelligenza Artificiale del Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). ). Attualmente insegna Informatica …