Inman Harvey
Inman Harvey was a Sussex academic whose research covered evolutionary robotics, artificial life and AI. He studied mathematics and Moral Sciences at Cambridge and ran an import-export business centred on trade with Afghanistan for twenty years from 1973. In 1988, he returned to academic study at Sussex and developed evolutionary robotics research with Phil Husbands and Dave Cliff; he directed the MSc in Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems from 2000 to 2011. He co-edited a 2014 volume on evolutionary robotics and received the International Society for Artificial Life's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. He published a 2024 paper on AI, deep learning and artificial life, retained a visiting senior fellowship at Sussex after retiring in 2011, and continued publishing and presenting until he died in June 2026.
Timeline
-
1966–1969
Mathematics and Moral Sciences
He enters Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1966 with a scholarship to study mathematics. He graduates in 1969 with a BA in Mathematics and Moral Sciences, after shifting his interests toward philosophy; his academic background also includes social anthropology.
-
1973
An import-export business
From 1973, he runs an import-export business centred on trade with Afghanistan for twenty years.
-
1988
Returning to Sussex study
In 1988, he returns to academic study as a mature student on Sussex's MSc in Knowledge Based Systems at the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences (COGS).
-
1990s
Evolutionary robotics at Sussex
During the 1990s, his DPhil thesis underpins collaborative evolutionary robotics research with Phil Husbands, Dave Cliff and Sussex colleagues as COGS grows into a centre for Artificial Life and new approaches to AI. In 1996, he becomes a founding member of the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, formed between COGS and the School of Biological Sciences. In 1997, he coauthors Evolutionary Robotics: the Sussex Approach with Phil Husbands, Dave Cliff, Adrian Thompson and Nick Jakobi.
-
2000–2011
Directing the EASy MSc
He directs Sussex's MSc in Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems from 2000 to 2011.
-
2014
The horizons of evolutionary robotics
In 2014, he co-edits The Horizons of Evolutionary Robotics, a volume published by MIT Press.
-
2015
A lifetime achievement award
The International Society for Artificial Life gives him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
-
2024–2026
AI, ALife, and a visiting fellowship
In 2024, he publishes Motivations for Artificial Intelligence, for Deep Learning, for ALife: Mortality and Existential Risk. After retiring from Sussex in 2011, he retains a visiting senior fellowship and continues publishing and presenting through June 2026. He dies in June 2026.
Sources and credits
Photo: We have no published photo of Inman Harvey yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.