Michael John Wooldridge (born 26 August 1966) is a professor of
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. His main research interests is in
multi-agent systems, and in particular, in the computational theory aspects of rational action in systems composed of multiple self-interested agents. His work is characterised by the use of techniques from
computational logic,
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...
, and
social choice theory
Social choice theory is a branch of welfare economics that extends the Decision theory, theory of rational choice to collective decision-making. Social choice studies the behavior of different mathematical procedures (social welfare function, soc ...
.
Education
Wooldridge was educated at
Wolverhampton Polytechnic where he gained a BSc in 1989
and the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) where he was awarded a PhD in 1991 for research supervised by Gregory O'Hare.
[
]
Career and research
Wooldridge was appointed a lecturer in Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at the Manchester Metropolitan University in 1992. In 1996, he moved to London, where he became senior lecturer at Queen Mary and Westfield College in 1998. His appointment as full professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...
followed in 1999. In Liverpool he served as head of department from 2001 to 2005 and as head of the School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Computer Science from 2008 to 2011. In 2012 the European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...
awarded him a five-year ERC Advanced Grant for the project ''Reasoning about Computational Economies'' (RACE). In the same year he left Liverpool to become professor of computer science at the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, and served as head of the Department of Computer Science from 2014 - 2018. In Oxford he is a senior research fellow of Hertford College, Oxford
Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...
.
Michael Wooldridge is author of more than 300 academic publications.
Editorial service
* 2003–2009 co-editor-in-chief of the ''Journal Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems''
* 2006–2009 associate editor of the ''Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research'' (JAIR)
* 2009–2012 associate editor of the ''Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research'' (JAIR)
Other editorships: ''Journal of Applied Logic'', '' Journal of Logic and Computation'', ''Journal of Applied Artificial Intelligence'', and ''Computational Intelligence
In computer science, computational intelligence (CI) refers to concepts, paradigms, algorithms and implementations of systems that are designed to show " intelligent" behavior in complex and changing environments. These systems are aimed at m ...
''.
Awards and honours
He is a Fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international Learned society, scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public under ...
(AAAI), a European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI) Fellow, a Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) Fellow, and a British Computer Society
image:Maurice Vincent Wilkes 1980 (3).jpg, Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957.
The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned ...
(BCS) Fellow. In 2015, he was made Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow for his contributions to multi-agent systems and the formalisation of rational action in multi-agent environments.[
]
* 2023 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
* Wooldridge was the 300th guest on '' The Life Scientific'' interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili at the Royal Institution in London.[
* 2021 ]Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international Learned society, scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public under ...
AAAI/EAAI Outstanding Educator Award
* 2020 BCS Lovelace Medal
* 2015 Elected an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellow
A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
. For ''contributions to multi-agent systems and the formalisation of rational action in multi-agent environments.''
* 2012–17 ERC Advanced Investigator Grant "Reasoning about Computational Economies (RACE)" (5-year €2m award)
* 2009 British Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (SSAISB) Fellow
* 2008 American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Fellow[
* 2008 Influential Paper Award, Special Recognition from the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, for the paper ''Intelligent Agents: Theory and Practice'']
* 2007 European Association for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI) Fellow
* 2006 ACM/SIGART Autonomous Agents Research Award. For ''significant and sustained contributions to the research on autonomous agents and multi agent systems. In particular, Dr. Wooldridge has made seminal contributions to the logical foundations of multi-agent systems, especially to formal theories of co-operation, teamwork and communication, computational complexity in multi-agent systems, and agent-oriented software engineering.'' [
]
Publications
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*Wooldridge, Michael (19 January 2020). ''A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going''. New York: Flatiron Books. .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooldridge, Michael
British artificial intelligence researchers
Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Academics of Manchester Metropolitan University
Academics of Queen Mary University of London
Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford
Academics of the University of Liverpool
British computer scientists
People from Wakefield
Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
Fellows of the British Computer Society
1966 births
Living people
Fellows of the SSAISB
Fellows of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence