PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Thomas B. Sheridan

Thomas Sheridan was an MIT engineer and robotics researcher who studied how people supervise automated machines. After studying electrical engineering at Cornell, he earned degrees at Purdue, UCLA, and MIT and joined MIT's faculty in 1959. He promoted supervisory control for human-robot work, coauthored Man-Machine Systems, and wrote Telerobotics, Automation, and Human Supervisory Control and Humans and Automation. He received the Paul Fitts Award in 1977 and served as president of the Human Factors Society from 1990 to 1991; MIT appointed him Ford Professor of Engineering in 1995, and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He is Professor Emeritus in MIT's Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Born
1929
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1951–1959

    Engineering degrees at four schools

    He begins in electrical engineering at Cornell, then returns to Purdue and earns a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1951. He earns an M.S. in engineering from UCLA in 1954 and an Sc.D. in human-machine systems from MIT in 1959.

  2. 1959

    MIT and the lunar rover

    He joins the MIT faculty in 1959 and moves from human-performance modeling into robotics. His MIT group studies how a lunar rover could be controlled from Earth, where the radio signal takes three-tenths of a second to make a round trip.

  3. 1962–1974

    Supervisory control and a textbook

    He promotes supervisory control from 1962, in which a person gives a remote machine high-level instructions, waits for feedback, and corrects the task. In 1974, he coauthors Man-Machine Systems.

  4. 1977–1991

    Award and society presidency

    He receives the Human Factors Society's Paul M. Fitts Award in 1977 and serves as its president from 1990 to 1991.

  5. 1992

    Telerobotics and human supervision

    In 1992, he publishes Telerobotics, Automation, and Human Supervisory Control, a book that presents his supervisory-control work for telerobotics.

  6. 1995

    Ford professorship and NAE election

    In 1995, MIT appoints him Ford Professor of Engineering, and he is elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

  7. July 2002

    A book on human automation

    He publishes Humans and Automation: System Design and Research Issues with Wiley in July 2002.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor Emeritus at MIT

    As of October 2026, he is Professor Emeritus in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research interests include humans and automation, cognitive engineering, teleoperation, and virtual reality.

Career

  1. Since 1959Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFaculty member, Ford Professor of Engineering

Education

  1. 1959Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySc.D. in human-machine systems
  2. 1954University of California, Los AngelesM.S. in engineering
  3. 1951Purdue UniversityB.S. in mechanical engineering
  4. Cornell UniversityElectrical engineering studies

From the biography.

  1. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes Thomas B. Sheridan. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Thomas B. Sheridan yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Interview with Sheridan web.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Pritsker Lecture - Dr. Thomas Sheridan - Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering | West Lafayette & Indianapolis - Purdue University engineering.purdue.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Sheridan appointed to Ford Professorship | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology news.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Award Recipients hfes.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. HFES Officers, Editors and Committee Chairs hfes.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Humans and Automation wiley-vch.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. MECHE PEOPLE: Thomas Sheridan | MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering meche.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Thomas B. Sheridan - MIT AeroAstro aeroastro.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.