PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yaser Abu-Mostafa

Also known as Yaser Said Abu-Mostafa, ياسر سعيد أبو مصطفى

Yaser Abu-Mostafa is an Egyptian-American machine learning researcher at Caltech who helped found the NeurIPS conference and whose online machine learning course has over 8 million views. He earned a BSc at Cairo University in 1979, an MS at Georgia Tech in 1981 and a PhD at Caltech in 1983, and became a Caltech full professor in 1994. In 1987, he and Ed Posner organized the first NeurIPS conference in Denver, with him as program chairman. The Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching came in 1996, and Caltech announced his Kuwait State Award in Applied Science in January 2000. In August 2024, Caltech announced resonance sonomanometry, a blood pressure method described in a PNAS Nexus paper he coauthored, and he continues to work on medical AI as a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Caltech.

Now at
California Institute of Technology, Machine Learning Consultants LLC and Esperto Medical, Inc.
Born
1957
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1979–1983

    Degrees from Cairo to Caltech

    The Egyptian-American computer scientist earns a BSc at Cairo University in 1979, an MS in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech in 1981, and a PhD at Caltech in 1983.

  2. 1982–1987

    From a workshop to NeurIPS

    In 1982, shortly after John Hopfield publishes his neural network model, he organizes a workshop at Caltech to discuss the model and its implications. In 1987, he and Ed Posner organize the first NeurIPS conference in Denver, and he serves as its program chairman.

  3. 1983–1996

    Caltech professor and Feynman Prize

    He joins Caltech in 1983 as a Garrett Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering and an assistant professor, becomes an associate professor in 1989, and a professor in 1994. In 1996, he wins the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

  4. 2000

    A Kuwait State Award

    In January 2000, Caltech announces that he has received the Kuwait State Award in Applied Science, cited for his work on neural networks, learning from hints, and computational finance. He is the youngest person to receive the award since it was established in 1979.

  5. 2005

    The Abu-Mostafa Fellowship

    In 2005, the Hertz Foundation establishes a perpetual graduate fellowship named the Abu-Mostafa Fellowship in his honor.

  6. 2012

    The Learning from Data course

    In 2012, Caltech broadcasts his Learning from Data course on machine learning live, its first-ever live broadcast of an entire course. The lectures have amassed over 8 million views, and he is an author of the Amazon bestseller Learning From Data.

  7. August 2024

    Noninvasive blood pressure device

    In August 2024, Caltech announces resonance sonomanometry, a patented technique that uses sound waves to stimulate resonance in an artery and ultrasound imaging to measure its resonance frequency. He is an author of the PNAS Nexus paper on the device, which produces results akin to a standard blood pressure cuff in a small clinical study.

  8. As of October 2026

    Medical AI at Caltech

    He is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Caltech, where his lab applies AI to ultrasound blood pressure measurement, heart failure detection from videos of a sniff test in collaboration with UCSF, and clot detection, and begins a cardiology foundation model project. He teaches Learning Systems (CS/CNS/EE 156) in 2026-27. He is chairman of Machine Learning Consultants LLC and co-founder of Esperto Medical, Inc.

Career

  1. Since 1983California Institute of TechnologyGarrett Research Fellow and Assistant Professor, Associate Professor
  2. NowMachine Learning Consultants LLCChairman
  3. NowEsperto Medical, Inc.Co-founder

Education

  1. 1983California Institute of TechnologyPhD
  2. 1981Georgia Institute of TechnologyMS
  3. 1979Cairo UniversityBSc

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes California 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.
  2. 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 California Institute of Technology. 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.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes California 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.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes California Institute of Technology. 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

Photo: We have no published photo of Yaser Abu-Mostafa yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Yaser Abu-Mostafa - Caltech Directory directory.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Yaser Abu-Mostafa - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. How Caltech Launched a Leading AI Conference — Caltech Magazine magazine.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. 1995-96 Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching - Office of the Provost provost.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Caltech Professor Yaser Abu-Mostafa Awarded Kuwait State Award - The Linde Center lindecenter.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Learning from Data: How to Deliver a Quality Online Course to Serious Learners - ENGenious engenious.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. ENGenuity Issue 6: Spring 2024 engenuity.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa - Shuki Bruck shukibruck.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Caltech Team Develops First Noninvasive Method to Continually Measure True Blood Pressure carvermead.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  11. First noninvasive method to continually measure true blood pressure | ScienceDaily sciencedaily.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  12. Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa - Division of Engineering and Applied Science eas.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  13. Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa home.work.caltech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.