Michael A. Arbib


Michael Anthony Arbib is an American computational neuroscientist. He is an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of California at San Diego and professor emeritus at the University of Southern California; before his 2016 retirement he was the Fletcher Jones Professor of computer science, as well as a professor of biological sciences, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, neuroscience and psychology.

Early life and education

Arbib was born in England on May 28, 1940, the oldest of four children. His parents moved to New Zealand when he was about 7, and on to Australia when he was about 9.
Arbib was educated in New Zealand and at The Scots College in Sydney, Australia. In 1960 he took a BSc at the University of Sydney, with the University Medal in Pure Mathematics.
Arbib received his PhD in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963. He was advised by Norbert Wiener, the founder of cybernetics, and Henry McKean. As a student, he also worked with Warren McCulloch, the co-inventor of the artificial neural network and finite-state machine.

Career

Following his PhD, Arbib moved to Stanford for a postdoc with Rudolf E. Kálmán. Arbib spent five years at Stanford, before moving to become becoming the founding chairman of the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. He remained in the department until 1986, when he joined the University of Southern California. He retired and was granted emeritus status in 2016.
Arbib's collected papers from the period 1960 through 1985 are held by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Awards and honors

Selected bibliography

Authored and co-authored books

Algebraic Theory of Machines, Languages and Semigroups Theories of abstract automata Prentice-Hall
  • with Louis Padulo System Theory. A Unified State-space Approach to Continuous and Discrete Systems Saunders
  • with Ernest G. Manes Arrows, Structures, and Functors: The Categorical Imperative Academic Press
  • with Suad Alagic The Design of Well-Structured and Correct Programs Springer
  • with A.J. Kfoury and Robert N. Moll A Basis for Theoretical Computer Science Springer
  • with A.J. Kfoury and Robert N. Moll A Programming Approach to Computability Springer Computers and the Cybernetic Society Second Edition Academic Press In Search of the Person: Philosophical Explorations in Cognitive Science UMass
  • with Ernest G. Manes Algebraic Approaches to Program Semantics Springer
  • with Mary B. Hesse The Construction of Reality CUP
  • with E. Jeffrey Conklin and Jane C. Hill From Schema Theory to Language OUP Brains, Machines, and Mathematics Second Edition Springer
  • with Robert N. Moll and A.J. Kfoury An Introduction to Formal Language Theory Springer The Metaphorical Brain Second Edition Wiley Beyond the Mirror: Biology and Culture in the Evolution of Brain and Language OUP How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis OUP

Edited books

  • with David Caplan and John C. Marshall Neural Models of Language Processes Academic Press
  • with Oliver G. Selfridge and Edwina L. Rissland Adaptive Control of Ill-Defined Systems Plenum Press The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks 2nd Edition MIT
  • with Jean-Marc Fellous Who Needs Emotions: The Brain Meets the Robot OUP

Other publications

Dynamic Interactions in Neural Networks: Models and Data by Michael A. Arbib, Shun-Ichi Amari
  • Vision, Brain, and Cooperative Computation by Michael A. Arbib, Allen R. Hanson
  • Natural and Artificial Parallel Computation by Michael A. Arbib, J. Alan Robinson
  • Neuroscience: From Neural Networks to Artificial Intelligence : Proceedings of a US-Mexico Seminar Held in the City of Xalapa in the State of Verac by Pablo Rudomin, et al.
  • Neural Organization: Structure, Function, and Dynamics by Michael A. Arbib, Péter Érdi and János Szentágothai et al.
  • Neuroscience and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action by Robert J. Russell, et al.
  • Computing the Brain: A Guide to Neuroinformatics by Michael Arbib, Jeffrey S. Grethe
  • The Neural Simulation Language: A System for Brain Modeling by Alfredo Weitzenfeld, et al.
  • Visual Structures and Integrated Functions by Michael A. Arbib, Jorg-Peter Ewert
  • Visuomotor Coordination: Amphibians, Comparisons, Models, and Robots by Jorg Peter Ewert, Michael A. Arbib