Robert Axelrod

Robert Axelrod (born 1943) is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He has appointments in the Department of Political Science and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to moving to Michigan, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley (1968-1974). He holds a BA in mathematics from the University of Chicago (1964) and a PhD in political science from Yale University (1969).

He is best known for his interdisciplinary work on the evolution of cooperation, which has been cited in numerous articles. His current research interests include complexity theory (especially agent-based modeling), and international security. Among his honors and awards are membership in the National Academy of Sciences, a five-year MacArthur Prize Fellowship, the Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences for an outstanding contribution to science, and the National Academy of Sciences Award for "Behavioral Research Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War".

Recently Axelrod has consulted and lectured on promoting cooperation and harnessing complexity for the United Nations, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Defense, and various organizations serving health care professionals, business leaders, and K-12 educators.

Axelrod was the President of the American Political Science Association (APSA) for the 2006-2007 term. He focused his term on the theme of interdisciplinarity.

In May 2006, Axelrod was awarded an honorary degree by Georgetown University.

Through his collaboration with W. D. Hamilton on the evolution of cooperation [cite journal|title=The evolution of cooperation|first=Robert|last=Axelrod|coauthors=Hamilton, William Donald|journal=Science|month=27 March|year=1981|volume=211|issue=4489|pages=1390–1396|publisher=AAAS|doi=10.1126/science.7466396|pmid=7466396] , Axelrod acquired an Erdős number of 6.Fact|date=February 2008

See also

* The Evolution of Cooperation
* Prisoner's Dilemma
* Evolutionarily Stable Strategy

References

External links

* [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/ Robert Axelrod's Home Page]
* [http://journal.ilovephilosophy.com/Article/Can-cooperation-every-occur-without-the-state-/1130 Article on Axelrod's Evolution of Cooperation]