Bruce R. Donald
Bruce R. Donald is a computer scientist whose work spans robot motion planning and machine-learning methods for drug discovery. He earned degrees at Yale and MIT, then taught at Cornell, Dartmouth, and Duke; he co-invented Embedded Constraint Graphics at Interval Research and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001 and ACM Fellow status in 2009. He published Algorithms in Structural Molecular Biology in 2011, then co-authored PATH with Yuxi Long in June 2025, a machine-learning method for predicting protein–ligand binding affinity. As of October 2026, he is a distinguished computer science professor at Duke and a founder of Ten63 Therapeutics.
Timeline
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1978–1987
From Yale to MIT
He graduates summa cum laude in Russian language and literature from Yale in 1980 and works at Harvard’s Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis from 1978 to 1984. At MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, he earns a Ph.D. in computer science in 1987; his thesis examines error detection and recovery for robot motion planning under uncertainty.
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1987–2006
Cornell, Dartmouth, and Duke
He joins Cornell Computer Science in 1987 and receives tenure in 1993. He joins Dartmouth in 1997, becomes the Joan and Edward Foley Professor in 2003, and moves to Duke in 2006 for appointments in computer science and biochemistry.
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1994–1997
Embedded Constraint Graphics
From 1994 to 1996, he is a visiting professor at Stanford; he also works at Interval Research in Palo Alto from 1995 to 1997 and co-invents Embedded Constraint Graphics.
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2001
A Guggenheim Fellowship
He receives a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001 for algorithms in structural molecular biology and proteomics.
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2009
An ACM Fellowship
ACM names him a Fellow in 2009 for contributions in robotics, MEMS, and computational molecular biology.
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2011
A book on structural biology
He publishes Algorithms in Structural Molecular Biology with MIT Press in 2011; the book surveys computational methods for NMR, protein structure, and protein design.
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June 2025
The PATH algorithm
In June 2025, he and Yuxi Long publish PATH, a machine-learning method that uses computational topology to predict protein–ligand binding affinity. The paper releases PATH+ and PATH− as open-source code through the OSPREY protein-design software package.
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As of October 2026
Duke and Ten63
He is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Biochemistry at Duke. He is a founder of Ten63 Therapeutics, which secures new investment in March 2026 for its artificial-intelligence approach to drug discovery.
Career
- Since 2006Duke UniversityJames B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Biochemistry
- NowTen63 TherapeuticsFounder
- 1997–2006Dartmouth CollegeJoan and Edward Foley Professor
- 1995–1997Interval Research
- 1994–1996Stanford UniversityVisiting Professor
- 1987–1997Cornell University
- 1978–1984Harvard University
Education
Most-cited works
- Kinodynamic motion planningWith John Canny and John H Reif
- Crystal structure, conformational fixation and entry-related interactions of mature ligand-free HIV-1 Env
- An Untethered, Electrostatic, Globally Controllable MEMS Micro-RobotWith Daniela Rus
- Enhanced Potency of a Broadly Neutralizing HIV-1 Antibody In Vitro Improves Protection against Lentiviral Infection In Vivo
- Moving furniture with teams of autonomous robotsWith Daniela Rus
Colleagues
Sources and credits
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- Bruce Randall Donald — Biography
- Doctoral Theses Supervised · Tomás Lozano-Pérez
- Bruce Randall Donald — Home page
- Bruce Donald Named ACM Fellow | Department of Computer Science
- Bruce Randall Donald — Books
- Predicting Affinity Through Homology (PATH): Interpretable binding affinity prediction with persistent homology
- Duke-Founded AI Drug Discovery Company Secures Major New Funding