Ayanna Howard
Ayanna Howard is a roboticist whose research includes terrain navigation, human-robot interaction and assistive technology. She earned a doctorate at USC in 1999 and worked at NASA JPL from 1993 to 2005. She joined Georgia Tech in 2005, founded the HumAnS laboratory and later established Zyrobotics for therapy and educational products. She became Ohio State’s engineering dean in 2021, also the year of her AAAI fellowship. Ohio State announced in 2026 that she would become Spelman’s president.
- Now at
- Ohio State University
- Works
- 234
- Citations
- 5,165
- h-index
- 31
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
-
1993–2005
Robotics study and NASA research
Howard earned an engineering degree at Brown in 1993 and a USC doctorate in 1999 on learning for deformable-object manipulation. She held NASA JPL roles from 1993 to 2005 and coauthored publications on terrain perception and planetary-rover navigation. Her robot research combined learning, sensing and control.
-
2005–2013
A laboratory and assistive products
Howard joined Georgia Tech in 2005 and established the Human-Automation Systems laboratory. She founded Zyrobotics in 2013. The spin-off developed mobile therapy and educational products for children with special needs. Product work involved a company team.
-
2021
Engineering leadership and AI recognition
Howard became Ohio State’s engineering dean in 2021. AAAI elected her a Fellow that year for human-robot interaction and work on access and equity.
-
2026 announcement
A planned move to Spelman
Ohio State announced Howard as the next president of Spelman College and gave a planned August 1 arrival. AI research institutes launched during her deanship.
Sources and credits
Photo: Copyright Georgia Institute of Technology 2008/Rob Felt. Uploaded by Jiuguang Wang, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
