Michael Wellman

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Michael P. Wellman

| image =

| image_size = 130x195px

| birth_name = Michael Paul Wellman

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|3|27|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, US

| education = MIT, Ph.D.

| field = Computer Science

| work_institution = University of Michigan

| awards = Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery

| website =

}}

Michael Paul Wellman (born March 27, 1961) is an American computer scientist and Lynn A. Conway Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.{{cite web|url=http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/wellman/|title=Michael P. Wellman, University of Michigan|accessdate=20 February 2013}} He formerly led his department as Richard H. Orenstein Division Chair of Computer Science and Engineering.{{cite web |title=Honoring the Legacy of Chip Design Innovator Lynn Conway - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/chip-design-innovator-lynn-conway |website=spectrum.ieee.org |language=en}}

Early life and education

He was born March 27, 1961. He received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988 for his work in qualitative probabilistic reasoning and decision-theoretic planning.

Career

In the areas of qualitative probabilistic reasoning and decision-theoretic planning, from 1988 to 1992, Wellman conducted research at the USAF's Wright Laboratory.

In 1992, he became a member of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) division in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

He served as Director of the University of Michigan AI Laboratory from 2001 to 2005.{{cite web |title=Celebrating 30 Years of AI at Michigan (1988 – 2018) |url=https://ai.engin.umich.edu/2018/12/13/celebrating-30-years-of-ai-at-michigan-1988-2018/ |website=University of Michigan AI Lab}} In 2016, he became the college's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.{{Cite web |title=Michael Wellman is new Associate Dean for Academic Affairs |url=https://cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/michael-wellman-is-new-associate-dean-for-academic-affairs |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Computer Science and Engineering |language=en-US}} He was elected an Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Fellow in 2001 for his work in decision theory, qualitative probabilistic and utilitarian reasoning, planning, multiagent systems, computational economics, e-commerce, and his role as editor of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.{{cite web |title=Elected AAAI Fellows |url=https://aaai.org/about-aaai/aaai-awards/the-aaai-fellows-program/elected-aaai-fellows/ |website=AAAI}}

He was also elected as a fellow of Association for Computing Machinery in 2005 for his work in market-based and decentralized computation.{{cite web |title=Michael Wellman |url=https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/wellman_3645520 |website=awards.acm.org |language=en}}

As Chief Market Technologist for TradingDynamics, Inc. (now part of Ariba), he designed configurable auction technology for dynamic business-to-business commerce.

Wellman previously served as Chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Electronic Commerce (SIGecom), and as Executive Editor of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.

In 2014 Wellman won the ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award.[http://sigai.acm.org/awards/autonomous_agents_award.html Autonomous Agents Research Award recipients], retrieved on April 3, 2015. In 2016, he was named the Lynn A. Conway Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2020, he was named division chair of CSE at University of Michigan.{{cite web |last1=Johnston |first1=Emma |last2=Goel |first2=Amer |date=21 September 2023 |title=UMich becomes first school to roll out its own generative AI |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/news/administration/umich-becomes-first-major-university-to-develop-its-own-generative-ai/ |website=The Michigan Daily}} His term ended in June 2024.

Research

His research has focused on computational market mechanisms and game-theoretic reasoning methods, with applications in electronic commerce, finance, and cyber-security.

His work has advanced the application of economic principles within AI, including mechanism design and market-based systems. Wellman’s research include computational game theory and electronic commerce, with a focus on developing market mechanisms for distributed decision-making.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Michael Wellman {{!}} The Fifth CSL Symposium on Emerging Topics in Control and Modeling: Social and Economic Behavior |url=http://publish.illinois.edu/emerging-topics-2013/speakers/dr-michael-p-wellman/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |language=en-US}}

He contributed to the development of the Trading Agent Competition (TAC).{{Cite web |title=Michael Wellman Recognized with ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award |url=https://cse.engin.umich.edu/stories/michael-wellman-recognized-with-acm-sigai-autonomous-agents-research-award |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Computer Science and Engineering |language=en-US}}

Wellman has investigated the risks posed by autonomous trading agents, exploring vulnerabilities and potential instabilities in algorithmic trading.{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Lecture: Michael Wellman on "Artificial Intelligence Meets Finance: Algorithmic Trading, Financial Stability, and Agent-Based Modeling" – Northwestern CS Theory Group |url=https://theory.cs.northwestern.edu/calendar_event/distinguished-lecture-michael-wellman-on-artificial-intelligence-meets-finance-algorithmic-trading-financial-stability-and-agent-based-modeling/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=theory.cs.northwestern.edu}} His recent work models how AI trading systems can impact financial stability, particularly examining manipulative behaviors like spoofing and the broader implications of AI in financial markets.{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Revathi |date=2016-10-01 |title=AI Researcher Michael Wellman |url=https://futureoflife.org/ai-researcher-profile/ai-researcher-michael-wellman/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Future of Life Institute |language=en-US}}