I’m working on a substantial research piece concerned with x-risk, and a sub-task of that involves compiling a list of important people in the field along with a brief summary of their education and relevant links. I realized that such a list might be a useful bit of meta-scholarship on its own, so I’m posting an incomplete version of it here in case anyone thinks there are people I should add. I haven’t tracked down all the cv’s and personal websites yet but I’d like to get the feedback ball rolling. After the LW crowd has given me any criticisms it thinks are relevant, I’ll polish the list up.
The focus is on researchers in x-risk and related fields, so I’m not including, say, every machine intelligence researcher, just the ones who, as far as I can tell, show an awareness of the possible existential impact of their work. In practice this means those who are affiliated with x-risk reduction groups like the Future of Humanity Institute or MIRI, or ones who’ve specifically written on x-risk. No, that’s not quite fair, but I needed some heuristic for narrowing down the list, and my mind is open if anyone has a better idea.
And yes, this is mostly information that’s available with a little Googling (though a few people were hard to track down). But this list, when completed, will allow any interested person to quickly see the educational pathways taken by a large number of x-risk researchers. I’m compiling this information as opposed to, say, current position or research interests because the former is more relevant to the bigger project I’m working on, the latter is more likely to change, and besides Googling is easy if you’re only interested in a handful of people. But if there is demand for a more thorough and comprehensive document, I could also put that together.
I’ve erred on the side of inclusion, which means I included people even if they were interns or associates as opposed to primary researchers. Of course I intend to finish this on my own, but if anyone just wants to help, let me know.
Who did I miss?
Associated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute:
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Background:
extremely high mathematical talent with a strong philosophical bent.
X-Risk Roll Call
I’m working on a substantial research piece concerned with x-risk, and a sub-task of that involves compiling a list of important people in the field along with a brief summary of their education and relevant links. I realized that such a list might be a useful bit of meta-scholarship on its own, so I’m posting an incomplete version of it here in case anyone thinks there are people I should add. I haven’t tracked down all the cv’s and personal websites yet but I’d like to get the feedback ball rolling. After the LW crowd has given me any criticisms it thinks are relevant, I’ll polish the list up.
The focus is on researchers in x-risk and related fields, so I’m not including, say, every machine intelligence researcher, just the ones who, as far as I can tell, show an awareness of the possible existential impact of their work. In practice this means those who are affiliated with x-risk reduction groups like the Future of Humanity Institute or MIRI, or ones who’ve specifically written on x-risk. No, that’s not quite fair, but I needed some heuristic for narrowing down the list, and my mind is open if anyone has a better idea.
And yes, this is mostly information that’s available with a little Googling (though a few people were hard to track down). But this list, when completed, will allow any interested person to quickly see the educational pathways taken by a large number of x-risk researchers. I’m compiling this information as opposed to, say, current position or research interests because the former is more relevant to the bigger project I’m working on, the latter is more likely to change, and besides Googling is easy if you’re only interested in a handful of people. But if there is demand for a more thorough and comprehensive document, I could also put that together.
I’ve erred on the side of inclusion, which means I included people even if they were interns or associates as opposed to primary researchers. Of course I intend to finish this on my own, but if anyone just wants to help, let me know.
Who did I miss?
Associated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute:
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Background:
extremely high mathematical talent with a strong philosophical bent.
wiki
Robin Hanson
Background:
BS physics (University of California, Irvine)
MS in physics/philosophy of science (University of Chicago)
PhD in Social Science (California Institute of Technology).
cv
Nick Bostrom
Background:
BA in philosophy, mathematics, mathematical logic, and artificial intelligence (University of Gotenberg)
MA in philosophy, physics (University of Stockholm)
MSc computational neuroscience (King’s College, London)
PhD in philosophy (London School of economics)
cv
personal website
Luke Muehlhauser
Background:
studied psychology (University of Minnesota)
personal website
Stuart Armstrong
Background:
PhD in mathematics (Oxford)
blog (not personal)
Anders Sandberg
Background:
MS in computer science (Stockholm University)
PhD in computational neuroscience (Stockholm University)
personal blog
Toby Ord
Background:
Bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and
philosophy (University of Melbourne)
PhD in philosophy (Balliol College & Christ Church, University of Oxford)
cv
personal site
Daniel Dewey
Background:
BS in Computer Science, Philosophy (Carnegie Mellon University)
personal website
cv
Ben Goertzel
Background:
BA in Mathematics (Simon’s Rock College)
PhD in Mathematics (Temple University)
cv
Carl Shulman
Background:
BA in philosophy (Harvard)
J.D. (New York University School of Law)
LW wiki
Anna Salamon
Background:
Bachelor’s in Mathematics (University of California Santa Barbara)
personal website
Nick Beckstead
Background:
BA in philosophy and mathematics (University of Minnesota)
PhD philosophy (Rutgers)
personal website/cv
Carl Frey
Background:
M.Sc. in Business & Economics
PhD in Economics (Technische Universität Berlin)
website
Milan Circovik
Background:
BS. in theoretical physics (university of Belgrade)
MS in Earth and Space Sciences (University of New York, Stony Brook)
PhD in physics (University of New York, Stony Brook)
professional information
Guy Kahane
Background:
Bachelors in philosophy (Oxford)
PhD in philosophy (Oxford)
Vincent Müller
Background:
studied philosophy with cognitive science, linguistics and history (Marburg, Hamburg, London, Oxford)
personal website
Erik Drexler
Background: BS in interdisciplinary science (MIT)
MS in Astro/Aerospace engineering (MIT)
PhD (MIT)
Seán Ó hÉigeartaig
Background:
B.A. Human Genetics (Trinity College, Dublin)
PhD in molecular genetics (Trinity College, Dublin)
Louie Helm
Background:
MS in Computer Science (University of Texas, Austin)
Malo Bourgon
Background:
MS in engineering (University of Guelph, Ontario)
Alex Altair
Background:
studied physics and mathematics (Maine school of science and mathematics)
Mihaly Barasz
Background:
MS in Mathematics (Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest)
Paul Christiano
Background:
Bachelors in Mathematics (MIT)
Benja Fallenstein
Background:
BSc in mathematics (University of Vienna)
working on PhD in mathematics (Bristol University, U.K.))
Joshua Fox
Background:
BA mathematics (Brandeis)
PhD (Harvard)
Anja Heinisch
Background:
MS, major in math, minor computer science (university of
Braunschweig, Germany)
Marcello Herreshoff
Background:
BA in mathematics (Stanford)
High performance in mathematics competitions
Bill Hibbard
Background:
BA in mathematics (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
MS in computer science (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
PhD in computer science (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Patrick LaVictoire
Background:
AB in mathematics (University of Chicago)
PhD in mathematics (University of California, Berkeley)
Vladimir Nesov
Background:
MS in applied mathematics and physics (Moscow institute of physics and technology)
Steve Rayhawk
Background:
degree in mathematics (UC Santa Barbara college of creative studies)
Nisan Stiennon
Background:
BS in mathematics and physics (University of Michigan)
PhD in mathematics (Stanford)
Kaj Sotala
Background:
BA in Cognitive Science with a minor in Computer Science (University of Helsinki)
working on MSc in Computer Science, minor in Mathematics (University of
Helsinki)
personal website
James Miller
Background:
BA (Wesleyan University)
MA in economics (Yale University)
J.D (Stanford Law School)
PhD in economics (University of Chicago)
cv
Qiaochu Yuan
Background:
B.Sc. in mathematics (MIT)
Michael Vassar
Background:
B.S (Penn State)
M.B.A (Drexel University)
Associated with the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute:
Seth Baum
Background:
BS in applied mathematics and optics (University of Rochester)
MS in electrical engineering (Northeastern University)
PhD in Geography (Pennsylvania State University)
Tony Barrett
Background:
BS in chemical engineering (University of California)
PhD in engineering and public policy (Carnegie Mellon University)
Grant Wilson
Background:
BA in environmental policy (Western Washington University)
J.D. (Lewis and Clark law school)
U. Tuncay Alparslan
Background:
BS in industrial engineering (University of Ankara, Turkey)
MS in operations research (Cornell)
PhD in operations research (Cornell)
Robert de Neufville
Background:
AB in government (Harvard)
MS in political science (University of California, Berkeley)
Mark Fusco
Background:
BA in religious studies and english literature (University of Toronto)
M.A.R in philosophical theology (Yale)
S.T.L in moral theology (Pontifical Lateran University)
Jacob Haqq-Misra
Background:
B.S. degrees in Astrophysics and Computer Science (University of Minnesota)
M.S. in Meteorology (Pennsylvania State University)
Ph.D. in Meteorology & Astrobiology (Pennsylvania State University)
Arden Rowell
Background:
B.A. in Anthropology/Archaeology (University of Washington)
J.D. (University of Chicago Law School)
Jianhua Xu
Background:
B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and English (Dalian University
of Technology)
M.S. in Environmental Science (Peking University)
Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy (Carnegie Mellon University)
Kaitlin Butler
Background:
B.A. in Sociology (Vassar College )
M.A. in Climate and Society (Columbia University)
Tim Maher
Background:
B.S. in Astrophysics (University of Missouri, St. Louis)
Kelly Hostetler
Background:
B.S. in Political Science (Columbia University)
Matt Moretto
Background:
B.A. in History (Columbia University)
Associated with the Center for Applied Rationality
Julia Galef
Background:
Bachelor’s in Statistics (Columbia)
Michael Smith
Background:
Master’s in Mathematics (University of Oregon)
PhD in Mathematics and Science Education (University of California, San Diego)
Andrew Critch
Background:
BSc in Mathematics
PhD in Mathematics (University of California, Berkeley)
Yan Zhang
Background:
PhD in Mathematics (MIT)
Leah Libresco
Background:
B.A. in Political Science (Yale)
Dan Keys
Background:
Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Statistics (Swathmore College)
Master’s in Social Psychology (Cornell University)
Associated with the Skoll Global Threat Fund
Larry Brilliant
Background:
Undergraduate degree in philosophy (
MD (Wayne Medical School)
Master’s of Public Health (
Jane Bloch
Background:
B.A. in Political Science (University of Washington)
Scott Field
Background:
M.A in Political Science (University of California, Berkeley)
M.A. in International & Area Studies (University of California, Berkeley)
P.hD in Behavioral Ecology (University of Adelaide)
David Kroodsma
Background:
B.S. in Physics (Stanford)
M.S. in Earth Systems (Stanford)
Sylvia Lee
Background:
Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering (McGill University)
Master’s in Environmental Engineering (M.I.T)
Bruce Lowry
Background:
B.A. in International Relations (Pomona College)
M.A. in International Affairs (Johns Hopkins school of Advanced International
Studies)
Amy Luers
Background:
B.S. in environmental resources engineering (Humboldt University)
M.S. in environmental resources engineering (Humboldt University)
M.S. in international policy studies (Stanford)
Ph.D in environmental science (Stanford)
Annie Maxwell
Background:
B.A. in English, Political Science (University of Michigan)
M.A in public policy (University of Michigan)
Bessma Mourad
Background:
B.A. in Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz)
M.S. (energy and resources group, University of California, Berkeley)
Jennifer Olsen
Background:
Bachelor’s in Biomathematics (Rutgers)
Master’s in Public Health (George Washington University)
Certificate in Weapons of Mass Destruction (Uniformed Services University for
health sciences)
Ph.D (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Mark Smolinski
Background:
B.S. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
M.D. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Master’s in Public Health (University of Arizona)
Lindsay Steele
Background:
B.A. in economics and spanish (University of California, Santa
Barbara)
Misc
Shane Legg
Background: MSc (University of Auckland)
PhD (IDSIA, Switzlerand)
Probable sources of further information:
Authors of papers from the Global Catastrophic Risks bibliography.
Authors from the edited volume on Global Catastrophic Risk
Many of the personnel from Leverage Research
[Updated 6/28/13] names added, substantial formatting adjustments