Your hosts, Dr. Charles Isbell and Dr. Michael Littman, have been friends since Michael interviewed to join Charles’ group at AT&T – Research in the late 1990s. They have worked together as research collaborators, and co-teach Machine Learning (and Reinforcement Learning) in the Georgia Tech Online Master’s of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program. They have also created multiple videos together as “Smoov and Curly.”
Charles “Smoov” Isbell
Provost and Vice Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Charles L. Isbell is a computationalist, researcher, educator, and advocate for access in higher education. He received his bachelor of science degree from Georgia Tech and continued his education at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After earning his PhD from MIT in 1998, Provost Isbell joined AT&T Labs/Research. In the fall of 2002, he returned to Georgia Tech to join the faculty of the College of Computing. In 2008, he became an associate dean for the College. Four years later in 2012, he became the senior associate dean and in 2017 became the executive associate dean. In 2019, he became the fourth dean of the College. In 2023, he became the Provost of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
His research interests are varied and include artificial intelligence with particular emphasis on developing technologies that can interact with systems and with humans in ways that are adaptive and collaborative, including using machine learning to model human behavior. His focus throughout his academic career has been both on research and educational reform.
Michael “Curly” Littman
University Professor of Computer Science
Brown University
Michael L. Littman is a University Professor of Computer Science at Brown University, studying machine learning and decision making under uncertainty. He has earned multiple university-level awards for teaching and his research on reinforcement learning, probabilistic planning, and automated crossword-puzzle solving has been recognized with three best-paper awards and three influential paper awards. Littman is co-director of Brown’s Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative and a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery. He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement with Science, focusing on Artificial Intelligence.
He is currently serving as Division Director for Information and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation.