Jim Whitehead

Jim Whitehead is a Professor of Computational Media in the Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research bridges artificial intelligence, software engineering, and computer games, with notable contributions to procedural content generation, software bug prediction, and serious games. He serves as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, focusing on student success initiatives including equity gap reduction, retention strategies, and experiential learning programs like first-year engineering design and senior capstone sequences.

• Academic Leadership: Former Chair of Computer Science (2000-2014) and Computational Media (2017-2019)
• Community Building: Founder of Society for the Advancement of Science of Digital Games (SASDG), procedural content generation communities, and games/software engineering collaborations

Research interests span AI for games, software evolution, and human-AI collaboration in creative domains. Articles highlight trends in procedural generation (2020), music sentiment modeling (2019), and code change analysis (2008-2015).

Administrative expertise includes UC faculty search committees, personnel case management, and curriculum development. He pioneered UCSC's computer games major (ranked top in the US) and masters program in games/playable media.

GitHub activity shows active involvement in open-source projects like smt_dungeon (SMT solver-based dungeon generator) and MovementLab (interactive media tools). His website template is based on the al-folio Jekyll theme.