PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Aaron C. Courville

Also known as Aaron Courville

Aaron Courville is a professor at Université de Montréal and a founding member of Mila, the Quebec AI institute. He co-authored Generative Adversarial Nets, a NeurIPS 2014 paper that received a NeurIPS 2024 Test of Time Award. With Ian Goodfellow and Yoshua Bengio, he co-wrote the textbook Deep Learning, published by MIT Press in 2016. His awards include an ICLR 2019 Best Paper Award and a NeurIPS 2021 Outstanding Paper Award. He was appointed a Canada CIFAR AI Chair in 2023, and IVADO named him interim scientific director in March 2025.

Photo of Aaron C. Courville

Timeline

  1. 2006

    A Carnegie Mellon doctorate

    Carnegie Mellon University confers his doctorate in 2006, for a dissertation on classical conditioning.

  2. 2014–2024

    Generative Adversarial Nets

    Generative Adversarial Nets, a NeurIPS 2014 paper that he co-authors, wins a NeurIPS 2024 Test of Time Award.

  3. 2016

    A deep learning textbook

    The textbook Deep Learning, co-written with Ian Goodfellow and Yoshua Bengio, is published by MIT Press in 2016.

  4. 2019

    An ICLR Best Paper Award

    Ordered Neurons, a paper he co-authors, wins an ICLR 2019 Best Paper Award.

  5. 2021

    A NeurIPS Outstanding Paper Award

    Deep Reinforcement Learning at the Edge of the Statistical Precipice, co-written with Rishabh Agarwal and others, wins a NeurIPS 2021 Outstanding Paper Award.

  6. 2023

    A Canada CIFAR AI Chair

    He is appointed a Canada CIFAR AI Chair in 2023.

  7. March 2025

    Interim scientific director at IVADO

    IVADO names him interim scientific director in March 2025.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Université de Montréal

    A professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at Université de Montréal, he is also a founding member of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute.

Sources and credits

Photo: aaroncourville.wordpress.com; Aaron Courville; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: aaroncourville.wordpress.com. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Aaron Courville - The Mathematics Genealogy Project mathgenealogy.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Announcing the NeurIPS 2024 Test of Time Paper Awards – NeurIPS Blog blog.neurips.cc. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Deep Learning deeplearningbook.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Best Paper Award iclr.cc. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. NeurIPS 2021 Awards neurips.cc. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Aaron Courville – CIFAR cifar.ca. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Yoshua Bengio to Take Over as Special Advisor and Founding Scientific Director of IVADO, Aaron Courville Appointed Interim Scientific Director | IVADO ivado.ca. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Aaron Courville | IVADO ivado.ca. Checked 14 October 2026.
  9. Aaron Courville | Mila mila.quebec. Checked 14 October 2026.