Michael Lederman Littman was born on August 30, 1966. He is a computer scientist, researcher, teacher, and writer. His work mainly involves a field called reinforcement learning. Since 2012, he has been a professor of computer science at Brown University. As of July 2025, he also holds the position of the university’s first Associate Provost for Artificial Intelligence.

Career

Before attending graduate school, Littman worked with Thomas Landauer at Bellcore and received a patent for one of the first systems designed to help find information in different languages. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Brown University in 1996. From 1996 to 1999, he taught at Duke University. During his time there, he developed an automated crossword solver called PROVERB, which received an Outstanding Paper Award in 1999 from AAAI and participated in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. From 2000 to 2002, he worked at AT&T. From 2002 to 2012, he was a professor at Rutgers University and led the department from 2009 to 2012. In the summer of 2012, he returned to Brown University as a full professor. He also taught at Georgia Institute of Technology as an adjunct professor. From 2022 to 2025, Littman served as the Division Director for Information and Intelligent Systems (the AI division) at the National Science Foundation. After completing his term, he returned to Brown University as their first Associate Provost for Artificial Intelligence, where he helps connect AI with research, teaching, operations, policy, and communication across the university.

Research

Littman's research focuses on several areas, with an emphasis on reinforcement learning and related topics. His work includes studies in machine learning, game theory, computer networking, solving problems with incomplete information, and addressing challenges in analogy-based reasoning. He is also interested in teaching computer skills and has written a book about programming for everyone.

Leadership and Service

Littman has led the group for The One Hundred-Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) 2021 Report and will lead the committee for the 2026 report. While working at the National Science Foundation, he helped lead the creation of the 2023 National Strategic Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan.

Personal Notes

Littman is also known for his fun way of communicating. He has created many educational and humorous videos, such as a machine-learning version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which he made with his frequent collaborator, Charles Lee Isbell, Jr., as part of his efforts to teach others.

One of his hobbies is riding an electric unicycle to his office at the NSF.

Awards

• Elected as an ACM Fellow in 2018 for helping create and study algorithms that make decisions step by step in artificial intelligence.
• Won the IFAAMAS Influential Paper Award in 2014.
• Won the AAAI “Shakey” Award for a music video about overfitting in machine learning in 2014.
• Elected as a AAAI Fellow in 2010 for important work in reinforcement learning, making decisions with uncertainty, and using statistics in language.
• Won the AAAI “Shakey” Award for a short video about Aibo Ingenuity in 2007.
• Won the Warren I. Susman Award for excellent teaching at Rutgers in 2011.
• Won the Robert B. Cox Award at Duke in 1999.
• Won the AAAI Outstanding Paper Award in 1999.