PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Geoffrey J. Gordon

Also known as Geoff Gordon, Geoffrey Gordon

Geoff Gordon is a machine learning researcher whose interests include reinforcement learning and whose work connects spectral learning with robotics. He earned a computer-science BA at Cornell in 1991 and a PhD at Carnegie Mellon in 1999. His career includes a principal scientist role at Burning Glass, a visiting professorship at Stanford in 2003–2004, an ICML tutorial on spectral learning, and a 2013 algorithm for range-only robotic mapping. He served as interim head of CMU’s Machine Learning Department in 2016 and became research director of Microsoft Research Montreal in January 2018. As of October 2026, he is a professor in CMU’s Machine Learning Department and teaches its Fall 2026 Introduction to Machine Learning course.

Timeline

  1. 1991–1999

    Cornell and Carnegie Mellon degrees

    He earns a BA in computer science at Cornell in 1991 and a PhD in computer science at Carnegie Mellon in 1999.

  2. By 2012

    Burning Glass and Stanford

    By 2012, his previous appointments include principal scientist at Burning Glass Technologies and visiting professor at Stanford’s Computer Science Department. In academic year 2003–2004, he serves as a visiting professor at Stanford’s Robotics Lab.

  3. 2012

    Associate research professor

    In 2012, he is an associate research professor in CMU’s Machine Learning Department and co-director of its PhD program.

  4. 2012

    Spectral learning at ICML

    At ICML 2012, he presents an introductory overview of spectral learning.

  5. 2013

    Range-only SLAM

    In 2013, he and Byron Boots introduce a spectral learning algorithm for range-only simultaneous localization and mapping. Their tests on a real robotic SLAM problem show low computational cost.

  6. May 2016

    Interim department head

    In May 2016, he serves as interim head of CMU’s Machine Learning Department.

  7. January 2018

    Directing Microsoft Research Montreal

    In January 2018, he becomes research director of Microsoft Research Montreal.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Carnegie Mellon

    As of October 2026, he is a professor in CMU’s Machine Learning Department and is affiliated with the Robotics Institute. He has research interests in multi-agent planning and reinforcement learning, and teaches Introduction to Machine Learning in Fall 2026.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

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. Spectral Approaches to Learning Latent Variable Models: ICML 2012 cs.cmu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Geoff's Home Page cs.cmu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. A Spectral Learning Approach to Range-Only SLAM proceedings.mlr.press. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Larry Wasserman Elected To National Academy of Sciences cs.cmu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Microsoft announces significant expansion of Montreal research lab, new director news.microsoft.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. 10-701: Introduction to Machine Learning 10-701.github.io. Checked 19 October 2026.