Researcher · Academic · Founder
Andrew Barto
University of Massachusetts AmherstProfessor Emeritus
🇺🇸 AmericanBorn 1948
Barto and Richard Sutton established many of the core ideas of modern reinforcement learning, where an agent improves through rewards from experience. Their algorithms and textbook connected psychology, control theory, and machine learning into a field that now underpins game-playing systems and robotics.
Career & education
University of Massachusetts Amherst2012-presentUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1977-2012
University of MichiganWork and education history is primarily focused on AI-relevant roles and may not be comprehensive.
Citation Trend
Selected contributions
Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction
With Richard S. SuttonA textbook on how agents learn to make decisions through trial, error and rewards.
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Reviewed August 7, 2026 · Checked for accuracy and new information.