PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Thomas S. Ray

Also known as Tom Ray, Thomas Ray

Thomas Ray is an evolutionary biologist whose Tierra system let self-replicating machine-code programs evolve by natural selection. He studied rainforest ecology from 1974 to 1989, proposed skototropism with Donald Strong in 1975, earned biology and chemistry degrees at Florida State University, and completed a Harvard biology PhD in 1981. In 1981, he joined Delaware's biology faculty and served as a professor at Oklahoma from 1998 to 2021, where he researched psychoactive drugs and the human mind; he implemented Virtual Life in 2000. In 1994, he published a study of evolution in artificial worlds; in 2024, he coauthored a Neuron paper on large language models for neuroscience and biomedicine. Since 2021, he has worked full time at Mindstate Design Labs as a scientific co-founder; as of October 2026, he is its Scientific Co-Founder, synthesizing human-experience and biochemical data to develop hypotheses about psychoactive drug effects.

Now at
Mindstate Design Labs
Works
69
Citations
2,291
h-index
24
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1974–1989

    Tropical biology and skototropism

    From 1974 to 1989, he studies tropical rainforest ecology, focusing on vines in the Araceae family. In 1975, he and Donald R. Strong propose skototropism in a Science paper. He earns undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry at Florida State University and completes a biology PhD at Harvard in 1981.

  2. 1981–1998

    Delaware biology faculty

    From 1981 to 1998, he serves on the University of Delaware's School of Life and Health Sciences faculty, first as an assistant professor and then as an associate professor.

  3. 1990–2001

    Tierra and digital evolution

    From 1990 to 2001, he studies digital evolution through Tierra, where self-replicating machine-code programs evolve by natural selection. In 1994, he publishes “Evolution, Complexity, Entropy, and Artificial Reality,” a study of Darwinian evolution in artificial worlds. In 1995, Tierra's 45- and 51-byte parasites borrow reproductive code from larger programs.

  4. 1998–2021

    Professor at Oklahoma

    From 1998 to 2021, he serves as Professor of Biology and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oklahoma.

  5. 2000

    Virtual Life

    In 2000, he implements Virtual Life, a system derived from Karl Sims's Evolved Virtual Creatures.

  6. 2000–2021

    Psychoactive research at OU

    From 2000 to 2021, he researches the human mind at OU, using psychoactive drugs to probe its chemical architecture.

  7. 2024

    A Neuron paper on LLMs

    In 2024, he coauthors “Data science opportunities of large language models for neuroscience and biomedicine” in Neuron.

  8. Since 2021

    Scientific co-founder at Mindstate

    By July 2021, he works full time at a biotechnology company as its scientific co-founder. As of October 2026, he is Mindstate Design Labs' Scientific Co-Founder, synthesizing human-experience and biochemical data to develop hypotheses about psychoactive drug effects.

Career

  1. Since 2021Mindstate Design LabsScientific Co-Founder
  2. 2000–2006Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
  3. 1998–2021University of OklahomaProfessor of Biology; Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, Researcher
  4. 1981–1998University of DelawareAssistant Professor; Associate Professor

Education

  1. 1981Harvard UniversityPhD in biology
  2. Florida State UniversityUndergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Thomas S. Ray. 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 company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Oklahoma. 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.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Oklahoma. 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. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Delaware. 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.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Thomas S. Ray tomray.me. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Thomas S. Ray - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Faculty Member — Faculty and Research — OU CBN ou.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Tom Ray's Publications tomray.me. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Viruses Are Good for You | WIRED wired.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Evolution, Complexity, Entropy, and Artificial Reality tomray.me. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Making AI a partner in neuroscientific discovery | ScienceDaily sciencedaily.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Thomas Ray, PhD | Mindstate Design Labs mindstate.design. Checked 21 October 2026.