Biographical sketch: Jan Zytkow

Jan Zytkow received his Ph.D. from the University of Warsaw in Philosophy of Science in 1972 and his Habilitation in 1979. He then worked at the University of Warsaw until 1982.

For the next two years, (1982 to 1984) he was a Visiting Professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he worked on Machine Discovery, in collaboration with Herbert Simon and Pat Langley. In 1984 he joined Wichita State University, where he was a Professor of Computer Science (and CS Chair from 1996).

In addition to his research on Discovery, he worked on Autonomous Decision Making and Learning Mechanisms for Automated Pilot, as well as Computer Vision. He founded a Machine Discovery Laboratory in which Automated Computer Systems, together with Robotic Hardware, perform experiments and build theories in Chemistry, Mechanics, as well as other related subjects.

Other research activities in the laboratory include Discovery of Hidden Structures, Discovery in Databases, and Discovery in Geometry. Since the Fall of 1997 he has been a computer science faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His academic career includes visiting professorships at Carnegie-Mellon (Fall 1992), George Mason University (from 1988 to 1990), Humboldt University (Berlin), Moscow State University, University of Salzburg (Austria), London School of Economics, and the Inter-University Center (Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia). He has authored over 140 research papers, co-authored a book, and edited a number of books, proceedings,and journal issues. He has been an invited speaker at many scientific meetings.