Jacob Schrum

Dr. Jacob Schrum is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Southwestern University. He specializes in Evolutionary Computation applied to video games and AI, focusing on neuroevolution, procedural content generation, and multiobjective optimization. His work includes winning the BotPrize 2012 competition for human-like game bots and advancing AI in games like Ms. Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros.

• Education: PhD in Computer Science (UT Austin, 2014), MS (UT Austin, 2009), BS (Southwestern U, 2006)
• Research: AI behavior evolution, generative adversarial networks (GANs), and interactive evolution of artistic content

Notable achievements include first-place in the 2018 Ms. Pac-Man vs. Ghosts competition and multiple best-paper awards at GECCO and CEC conferences. He mentors undergraduate research through SCOPE, publishing with students on topics like Tetris AI and Mario level generation.

Scientific Awards:

• BotPrize 2012 Grand Prize
• 2018 Ms. Pac-Man Competition First Place
• UTCS Teaching Excellence Award (2012)

His work spans game AI, artistic GANs, and educational outreach. Current projects involve evolving Minecraft structures and text-to-level diffusion models. He actively contributes to ACM SIGEVO/SIGCSE and IEEE Computational Intelligence Society.