The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is honoring Kalamazoo College Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Péter Érdi with a promotion to its College of Fellows, providing him with the highest grade of membership in the organization and recognition of his exceptional achievements in the field of neural networks.

Artificial neural networks are a set of algorithms, inspired by functions found in the human brain, that recognize patterns. Such systems learn to perform tasks by considering examples through processes such as image recognition. The networks might learn about those images to identify similar images, then label them and organize them. The INNS gathers global experts interested in neural networks as they seek to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. Fellows of the society are elected by the INNS Board of Governors.

Érdi received the 2018 Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, the highest award bestowed by K’s faculty, which honors the recipient’s contributions in creative work, research and publication. He was also recently recognized by a group of alumni from the Class of 2009 who initiated an Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies in Érdi’s name.

Érdi has dozens of publications from his time at K, including two books since 2019, Ranking: The Hidden Rules of the Social Game We All Play and Repair: When and How to Improve Broken Objects, Ourselves and Our Society. He also recently finished another book due out in November, Feedback Control: How to Destroy or Save the World, and has served the University of Michigan as a visiting professor and scholar.