PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

J. Andrew (Drew) Bagnell

Also known as Drew Bagnell, James Andrew Bagnell, James A. Bagnell

Drew Bagnell is a roboticist and machine-learning researcher who works on imitation learning, reinforcement learning and decision making for robots and self-driving vehicles. After a B.Sc. in electrical engineering with highest honors at the University of Florida in 1998, he earned a doctorate at Carnegie Mellon in 2004 and directed its Learning, AI, and Robotics Laboratory (LAIRLab) in 2011. His 2008 paper on maximum entropy inverse reinforcement learning, written with Brian Ziebart, Andrew Maas and Anind Dey, received the 2024 AAAI Classic Paper Award, and a 2011 paper with Stephane Ross and Geoffrey Gordon reduced imitation learning to no-regret online learning. In 2017, he co-founded the self-driving company Aurora with Chris Urmson and Sterling Anderson, after heading Uber's autonomy and perception team. He is now Chief Scientist and co-founder of Aurora and a Consulting Professor at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1998–2004

    Florida degree, CMU doctorate

    He earns a B.Sc. in electrical engineering with highest honors from the University of Florida in 1998. He joins the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in 2000 and receives his doctorate there in 2004.

  2. 2008

    Maximum entropy inverse reinforcement learning

    In 2008, he coauthors "Maximum Entropy Inverse Reinforcement Learning" with Brian Ziebart, Andrew Maas and Anind Dey for the Twenty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Chicago.

  3. 2011

    Directing CMU's LAIRLab

    In 2011, he is an Associate Professor with the Robotics Institute, the National Robotics Engineering Center and the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon, directing the Learning, AI, and Robotics Laboratory (LAIRLab) and the Robotics Institute Summer Scholars program. With Stephane Ross and Geoffrey Gordon, he publishes "A Reduction of Imitation Learning and Structured Prediction to No-Regret Online Learning" at AISTATS. His contributions include the first reinforcement learning algorithm for helicopter control.

  4. 2015

    Best systems paper at RSS

    In 2015, "Autonomy Infused Teleoperation with Application to BCI Manipulation," coauthored with Katharina Muelling, Arun Venkatraman, Martial Hebert and others, wins the RSS Best Systems Paper Award. The system combines computer vision, user intent inference and shared control so that people with implanted brain-computer interfaces can direct a robot arm.

  5. 2016

    CMU's Ryan teaching award

    In 2016, he receives the Ryan Award, CMU's award for Meritorious Teaching. By 2021, his group has received over a dozen research awards for publications in robotics and machine learning, including best paper awards at ICML, RSS and ICRA.

  6. 2017–2021

    Co-founding Aurora

    In 2017, he co-founds the self-driving company Aurora with Chris Urmson and Sterling Anderson, after heading Uber's autonomy and perception team. In 2018, he is Aurora's Chief Technology Officer and gives an invited talk at a NIPS workshop on machine learning for intelligent transportation systems. In July 2021, he signs the founders' letter to Aurora's shareholders as Chief Scientist and co-founder.

  7. 2024

    AAAI Classic Paper Award

    He, Brian Ziebart, Andrew Maas and Anind Dey receive the 2024 AAAI Classic Paper Award for their 2008 paper, honored for its probabilistic, maximum-entropy approach to inverse reinforcement and imitation learning.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chief scientist at Aurora

    In September 2025, he speaks as co-founder and Chief Scientist at Aurora about Pittsburgh's place in robotics, AI and autonomy. He is also a Consulting Professor at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, where his research covers learning and decision making for mobile robotics and structured probabilistic models for making and learning decisions.

Career

  1. Since 2017Aurora InnovationCo-founder, Chief Technology Officer
  2. Since 2011Carnegie Mellon UniversityAssociate Professor
  3. UberHead

Education

  1. 2004Carnegie Mellon UniversityDoctorate
  2. 1998University of FloridaB.Sc.

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes J. Andrew (Drew) Bagnell. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes J. Andrew (Drew) Bagnell. 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.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. 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.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Carnegie Mellon University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

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. Drew Bagnell videolectures.net. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. 2011 Robotics: Science and Systems robotics.usc.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. AAAI-24 Awards | Interactive AI Magazine interactiveaimag.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. A Reduction of Imitation Learning and Structured Prediction to No-Regret Online Learning proceedings.mlr.press. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Congrats Katharina, Arun, and Shervin! RSS 2015 Best Systems Paper Award robotwhisperer.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Machine Learning, Games, and the Aurora Driver | College of Engineering | Oregon State University engineering.oregonstate.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Aurora Innovation - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. NIPS Invited Talk: Drew Bagnell, CMU and Aurora nips.cc. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. A letter from our founders to our shareholders aurora.tech. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. Pittsburgh Robotics Network Announces Robotics & AI Discovery Day 2025 robopgh.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. J. Andrew (Drew) Bagnell - The Robotics Institute - CMU ri.cmu.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.