Hans-Paul Schwefel
Hans-Paul Schwefel helped develop evolution strategies for numerical optimization, a strand of evolutionary computation. He studied aerospace engineering at TU Berlin, earned a doctorate in 1975, and analyzed future energy supply at Jülich from 1976 to 1985. At TU Dortmund, he held the Systems Analysis chair from 1985 to 2006, co-founded the PPSN conference series in 1990, and became spokesperson for the university’s Computational Intelligence research center in 1997. He published Evolution and Optimum Seeking in 1995 and received the EPS Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995, the IEEE Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award in 2002, a Birmingham honorary doctorate in 2007, and the IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award in 2011. As of October 2026, he is professor emeritus at TU Dortmund.
- Now at
- TU Dortmund University
- Works
- 105
- Citations
- 13,872
- h-index
- 27
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1965–1975
From aerospace to evolution strategies
He studies aerospace engineering at TU Berlin and earns an engineering degree in 1965. He completes a Dr.-Ing. doctorate in 1975 after a DFG-funded project on evolution strategies for numerical optimization.
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1976–1985
Energy-supply analysis at Jülich
He works on computer-based systems analyses for future energy supply at Jülich from 1976 to 1985.
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1985–2006
A Dortmund chair and research leadership
He holds Dortmund’s Systems Analysis chair from 1985 to 2006. He co-founds the PPSN conference series in 1990 and becomes spokesperson for the university’s Computational Intelligence research center in 1997.
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1995
A book and a lifetime award
He publishes Evolution and Optimum Seeking in 1995, a book that explains how evolutionary rules can search for technical-model parameters. The Evolutionary Programming Society gives him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
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2002
An IEEE Pioneer Award
In 2002, the IEEE Neural Network Society, later renamed the Computational Intelligence Society, awards him the IEEE Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award.
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2007
An honorary doctorate from Birmingham
The University of Birmingham awards him an honorary Doctor of Science in 2007 for his work on evolutionary strategies.
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2011
The Frank Rosenblatt Award
He receives the IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award in 2011 for his contributions to evolutionary computation through the theory and application of evolution strategies.
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As of October 2026
Professor emeritus at Dortmund
As of October 2026, he is professor emeritus in TU Dortmund’s Computer Science Faculty.
Sources and credits
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