PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Douglas H. Fisher

Also known as Douglas Fisher, Doug Fisher

Douglas Fisher is a computer scientist whose work spans machine learning, conceptual clustering, and AI applications in sustainability. He developed COBWEB, joined Vanderbilt's faculty, directed AI research awards at the National Science Foundation, and led programs in digital learning and computational sustainability. In 2025, he coauthored a book with Clifford Anderson about AI and machine learning in academic libraries. He is an Associate Professor Emeritus and Professor of the Practice at Vanderbilt, and his 2026 work explores AI and human authorship.

Works
139
Citations
7,501
h-index
28
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1975–1987

    Degrees at UC Irvine

    After earlier study in psychology at UC Santa Cruz and political science at the U.S. Naval Academy, Fisher earns a BS in Information and Computer Science at UC Irvine in 1980, an MS in 1983, and a PhD in 1987.

  2. 1987–1989

    COBWEB and CLASSIT

    His 1987 dissertation is titled Knowledge Acquisition Via Incremental Conceptual Clustering. COBWEB forms an incremental classification tree, and in 1989 he and John H. Gennari and Pat Langley develop CLASSIT to extend it to continuous-valued data.

  3. 1987–2024

    Vanderbilt faculty roles

    He joins Vanderbilt's faculty in 1987 after earning a PhD at UC Irvine. He becomes an associate professor of computer science in 1995 and an associate professor of computer engineering in 1997; the computer-science appointment continues through 2024.

  4. 2007–2010

    NSF program director

    From 2007 to 2010, he serves as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, overseeing research awards in artificial intelligence and machine learning. In 2010, the NSF gives him its Director's Award of Excellence for Program Management.

  5. 2013–2021

    Digital learning and CompSustNet roles

    He becomes the founding director of Vanderbilt's Institute for Digital Learning in 2013 and serves through 2015. From 2015 to 2021, he directs outreach, education, diversity, and synthesis for the Computational Sustainability Network (CompSustNet). In 2019, he co-teaches Vanderbilt's University Course in The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence with Haerin Shin.

  6. Since 2024

    Professor of the Practice

    He is an Associate Professor Emeritus and Professor of the Practice in Computer Science at Vanderbilt. In 2025, he and Clifford Anderson publish Artificial Intelligence for Academic Libraries, a guide to AI and machine learning in academic libraries. In April 2026, he coauthors a journal article that explores what AI reveals about human authorship.

Career

  1. Since 1987Vanderbilt UniversityFaculty, Associate Professor of Computer Science
  2. 2015–2021Computational Sustainability NetworkDirector of outreach, education, diversity, and synthesis
  3. 2007–2010National Science FoundationProgram Director

Education

  1. 1987University of California, IrvinePhD
  2. 1983University of California, IrvineMS
  3. 1980University of California, IrvineBS in Information and Computer Science
  4. University of California, Santa CruzPsychology study
  5. United States Naval AcademyPolitical science study

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Knowledge Acquisition Via Incremental Conceptual Clustering1987 · Machine Learning · 1,991 citations
  2. Models of Incremental Concept Formation1988 · 525 citationsWith Pat Langley
  3. Machine learning approaches to estimating software development effort1995 · IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering · 483 citations
  4. The MONK's problems: A Performance Comparison of Different Learning Algorithms1991 · 447 citationsWith Igor Kononenko, Ryszard S. Michalski, Sašo Džeroski, Scott E. Fahlman, Sebastian Thrun and Tom Mitchell
  5. A case study of incremental concept induction1986 · National Conference on Artificial Intelligence · 305 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Vanderbilt University. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes Vanderbilt University. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, Irvine. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes University of California, Irvine. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Curriculum Vitae | Douglas Fisher my.vanderbilt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Cobweb (clustering) - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Fisher to lead new Institute for Digital Learning engineering.vanderbilt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Introducing The University Course: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) my.vanderbilt.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Artificial Intelligence for Academic Libraries routledge.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. AI as Superscholar: Authorship at the Threshold of the Unsayable | Theological Librarianship serials.atla.com. Checked 19 October 2026.