PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Garrison W. Cottrell

Also known as Gary

Garrison Cottrell is a computer scientist whose neural-network research applies to artificial intelligence and cognitive science. He earned a bachelor's in mathematics and sociology at Cornell, completed a computer science PhD at Rochester in 1985, joined UC San Diego as a postdoc with David Rumelhart, and joined its Computer Science and Engineering faculty in 1987. In 2002, he coauthored EMPATH for facial-expression classification and served as executive director and principal investigator of UC San Diego's Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center in 2010. He became a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society in 2017 and later coauthored Echo Memory Networks for time-series classification in 2019 and NPClassifier for natural-product structures in 2021. As of October 2026, he is Recall Faculty in UC San Diego's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Badges

Timeline

  1. By 1985

    Cornell, Rochester and a postdoc

    As a computer scientist, he earns a bachelor's in mathematics and sociology at Cornell and completes a computer science PhD at the University of Rochester in 1985. He joins UC San Diego as a postdoc with David Rumelhart in 1985.

  2. 1987

    A CSE faculty appointment

    He joins UC San Diego's Department of Computer Science and Engineering faculty in 1987.

  3. 2002

    EMPATH for facial expressions

    In 2002, he coauthors EMPATH, a biologically plausible neural network trained to classify facial expressions into six basic emotions. He applies neural networks and other computational models to cognitive science and artificial intelligence.

  4. 2006–2010

    Directing the Temporal Dynamics Center

    From 2006 onward, he serves as founding director and principal investigator of the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center (TDLC). In 2010, he serves as its executive director and principal investigator; the center studies how timing affects learning from the synapse to the classroom.

  5. 2017

    A Cognitive Science Society fellowship

    In 2017, he becomes a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society for his contributions to the field.

  6. 2019

    Echo Memory Networks for time series

    In 2019, he coauthors “Time series classification with Echo Memory Networks” with Qianli Ma, Wanqing Zhuang and Lifeng Shen.

  7. 2021

    NPClassifier for natural products

    In 2021, he coauthors NPClassifier, a deep neural network tool for structural classification of natural products.

  8. As of October 2026

    Recall faculty at UC San Diego

    As of October 2026, he is Recall Faculty in UC San Diego's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Career

  1. Since 1985University of California, San DiegoPostdoctoral Researcher, Recall Faculty

Education

  1. 1985University of RochesterPhD in Computer Science
  2. Cornell UniversityBachelor's degree in Mathematics and Sociology

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of California, San Diego. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes University of California, San Diego. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of California, San Diego. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of California, San Diego. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

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. Leadership - Executive Committee tdlc.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Garrison W. Cottrell | Jacobs School of Engineering jacobsschool.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Gary Cottrell | Jacobs School of Engineering jacobs.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Garrison Cottrell en.wikipedia.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. EMPATH: A Neural Network that Categorizes Facial Expressions | CaltechAUTHORS authors.library.caltech.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Garrison Cottrell | UCSD Profiles profiles.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center Looks to the Future jacobs.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. It takes a network to raise a graduate student cse-ece-ucsd.blogspot.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. Garrison W. Cottrell Publications cseweb.ucsd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.