James Kennedy
Also known as Jim Kennedy
James Kennedy is a social psychologist who helped originate particle swarm optimization, a method for optimizing continuous nonlinear functions. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1992. With Russell Eberhart, an electrical engineer, he introduced the method in 1995, and tens of thousands of papers have followed. In 2012 he and Eberhart received the IEEE Computational Society's Pioneer Medal for lifetime achievement. He retired from US government survey work in 2017, and he plays in the band The Colliders.
- Works
- 64
- Citations
- 113,055
- h-index
- 29
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1992
A doctorate from North Carolina
He earns a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1992.
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1995
The particle swarm algorithm
With Russell Eberhart, an electrical engineer, he introduces particle swarm optimization in 1995 as a stochastic optimization technique for continuous nonlinear functions. Tens of thousands of papers on particle swarms follow.
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2003
A bare bones variant
He proposes the bare bones particle swarm in 2003, a variant that does not use velocity at all.
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2011–2018
Albums with The Colliders
He plays in the band The Colliders, which releases albums in 2011 and 2015. In 2018 he releases the DIY album The Life of Mischief.
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2012
The IEEE Pioneer Medal
He and Russell Eberhart receive the IEEE Computational Society's Pioneer Medal for lifetime achievement in 2012.
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Since 2017
Retired from survey work
He retires from US government survey work in 2017.
Sources and credits
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