Ronald Arkin

Ronald Arkin is a Regents' Professor Emeritus in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Computing. He is the Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory and former Associate Dean for Research and Space Planning (2008–2017). His research focuses on intelligent robotics, robot ethics, bioinspired systems, and multiagent control. Arkin has over 230 publications and authored seminal works like Behavior-Based Robotics and Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots.

• Education: Ph.D. (1987) University of Massachusetts Amherst; M.S. (1977) Stevens Institute of Technology; B.S. (1971) University of Michigan.
• Visiting roles include STINT Professor at KTH (1997–1998) and CSIRO Fellow (2017–2018).

Research interests include behavior-based control, robot ethics, and autonomous systems. Key projects include the DARPA Subterranean Challenge (2024), ethical frameworks for lethal systems, and bio-inspired navigation. Awards include IEEE Fellow (2003) and Outstanding Research Awards (2001, 2011).

He serves on editorial boards of journals like Autonomous Robots and has advised the United Nations, ICRC, and Pentagon on autonomous systems. His work bridges technical innovation with ethical governance, emphasizing societal impact and safety.