Lawrence J. Fogel
- Associated organizations
- Natural Selection, Inc, Decision Science
- Fields of study
- Artificial intelligence, Electrical engineering, Aerospace engineering
- Awards
- IEEE Neural Networks Council Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Evolutionary Programming Society, Computational Intelligence Pioneer Award from the International Society for Optical Engineering
Biography
Dr. Lawrence J. Fogel has been described by colleagues as “a father of computational intelligence.”
Beginning in 1960, he devised evolutionary programming, a radical approach in artificial intelligence that simulated evolution to literally evolve solutions to problems. While a senior staff scientist at General Dynamics/Astronautics in San Diego, California he conducted a research study in evolutionary programming to advise management on the technical aspects of man-machine relations within aerospace systems.
His 1964 doctoral dissertation on evolutionary programming was the basis of the first book on evolutional computation, “Artificial Intelligence through Simulated Evolution,” which he co-authored with Alvin Owens and Michael Walsh. In 1965, Dr. Fogel, with Owens and Walsh, founded Decision Science, Inc. in San Diego, California, the first company to focus on solving real problems via evolutionary computation.
As president of Decision Science, he directed its activities, guiding research in the informational sciences in areas such as computer simulation, mathematical prediction and control systems, real-time data processing and materials handling systems. He also developed evolutionary programming methods that led to the Adaptive Maneuvering Logic, a heuristic approach to missile evasion for simulated aerial combat, as well as for naval and tank warfare. His method also has been used to discover new pharmaceuticals, improve industrial production and optimize mission planning in defense applications. In 1982, Decision Science merged with and became a division of Titan Systems, Inc., in San Diego.
In 1993, Dr. Fogel founded Natural Selection, Inc. in La Jolla, California, which combines evolutionary computation with neural networks, fuzzy systems and other computational intelligence technologies. The company has addressed and solved problems in many areas, including bioinformatics, medical diagnostics, pattern recognition, data mining, perimeter security, factory optimization, route scheduling, autonomous vehicle capabilities and risk management.
An IEEE Life Fellow, Dr. Fogel was the recipient of the IEEE Neural Networks Council Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Evolutionary Programming Society and the Computational Intelligence Pioneer Award from the International Society for Optical Engineering.
He held a bachelor’s degree from New York University in New York City and a master’s degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, both in electrical engineering, and a doctoral degree in engineering with a major in biotechnology from the University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. Fogel passed in 2007 at the age of 78.
