Dr. Johnson co-founded our company while he was director of the Center for Advanced Research in Technology for Education (CARTE) at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California, where he was the principal investigator of the Tactical Language project that resulted in our products. He left USC ISI in 2007 to join us full time, but continues to be active in research focusing on the successful adoption of interactive learning environments. His work on Tactical Language won DARPA's Significant Technical Achievement Award in 2005. His article on the Politeness Effect in pedagogical agents, co-authored with Richard Mayer and Ning Wang, won the Most Cited Prize in 2011 from the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.

Dr. Johnson has served on the governing boards and organizing committees of multiple international societies and conferences, is past president of the International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society, and past chair of the ACM Special Interest Group for Artificial Intelligence. He holds a B.A. in linguistics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University. He is fluent in multiple languages, and is an avid user of all of Alelo's products.

Languages

Fluent in English, French, German, Chinese, Italian and Spanish, .

Working knowledge of Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, Malay, Pashto, Dari, and Indonesian.

Professional preparation

Princeton University: A.B. Linguistics, Summa Cum Laude, 1978

Yale University: M.Phil. Computer Science, 1980

Yale University: Ph.D. Computer Science, 1985

Appointments

Chief Scientist, Alelo Inc., 2006-present

Chief Executive Officer, Alelo Inc, 2005-2006; 2010-present

Senior Project Leader and Director, Center for Advanced Research in Technology for Education (CARTE), Information Sciences Institute (ISI), University of Southern California — 2000-2007

Research Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California — 2004-2007

Research Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California — 1996-2004

Project Leader, Information Sciences Institute (ISI), University of Southern California — 1987-2000

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California — 1987-1996

Research Scientist, Information Sciences Institute (ISI), University of Southern California — 1985-1987

Selected publications

Expecting the Unexpected: Warehousing and Analyzing Data from ITS Field Use
W. Lewis Johnson, Naveen Ashish, Stephen Bodnar, Alicia Sagae. March 2010

Integrating Cross-Cultural Decision Making Skills into Military Training
W. Lewis Johnson and LeeEllen Friedland. March 2010

A Simulation-Based Approach to Training Operational Cultural Competence
W. Lewis Johnson. Proceedings of ModSIM 2009. October 2009

Tactical Language and Culture Training Systems: Using AI to Teach Foreign Languages and Cultures
W. Lewis Johnson, Andre Valente. As published in AI Magazine (link to site). Summer 2009

Culture-Driven Response Strategies for Virtual Human Behavior in Training Systems
Alicia Sagae, Baylor Wetzel, Andre Valente, W. Lewis Johnson. Proceedings of SLaTE-2009. July 2009

Scaling up in Speaking Proficiency by Supporting Robust Learning Behaviors
Alicia Sagae, Rohit Kumar, and W. Lewis Johnson. Proceedings of AIED 2009 Workshop: Scalability Issues in AIED. July 2009

Evaluating an Authoring Tool for Mini-Dialogs
Kumar, R., Sagae, A., & Johnson, W.L. Proceedings of AIED 2009 (Poster). July 2009

Intelligent Tutoring and Pedagogical Experience Manipulation
H.C. Lane and W.L. Johnson. In D. Schmorrow (ed.) Intelligent Tutoring in Virtual Environments. May 2008

The Politeness Effect in an intelligent foreign language tutoring system
Wang, N. and Johnson, W.L.. Proceedings of ITS 2008. April 2008

Assessing aptitude for learning with a serious game for foreign language and culture
Johnson & Wu. ITS 2008, Montreal. April 2008

Tactical Language and Culture Training Systems: Using Artificial Intelligence to Teach Foreign Languages and Cultures
Johnson & Valente. In Proceedings of IAAI 2008. March 2008

Collaborative Authoring of Serious Games for Language and Culture
W.L. Johnson & A. Valente. SimTecT 2008. March 2008

The Politeness Effect: Pedagogical Agents and Learning Outcomes
N. Wang, W.L. Johnson, R.E. Mayer, P. Rizzo, E. Shaw, & H. Collins. Int. J. Human Computer Studies, in press. February 2008

Multi-platform delivery of game-based learning content
W. Lewis Johnson, Andre Valente, Robert Heuts. Procedings of the New Learning Technology Conference, Society for Applied Learning Technology (SALT). 2008

Improving the authoring of foreign language interactive lessons in the Tactical Language Training System
Joram Meron, Andre Valente, W. Lewis Johnson. Presented at the Speech and Language Technology in Education Workshop (SLaTE). 2007

Serious use of a serious game for language learning
W. Lewis Johnson In R. Luckin et al. (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education, Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2007.

Experience with serious games for learning foreign languages and cultures
W. Lewis Johnson, Ning Wang, Shumin Wu. Procedings of the SimTecT Conference. Australia. 2007

Constructing computer-based tutors that are socially sensitive: Politeness in educational software
Richard E. Mayer, W. Lewis Johnson, Erin Shaw, Sahiba Sandhu. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Volume 64 , Issue 1, January 2006

Serious games for language learning: How much game, how much AI?
W. Lewis Johnson, Hannes Vilhjalmsson, Stacy Marsella. In Procedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 2005

Iterative evaluation of a large-scale, intelligent game for language learning
W. Lewis Johnson, Carole Beale.In Procedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 2005

A pedagogical agent for psychosocial intervention on a handheld computer
W. Lewis Johnson, Catherine LaBore, Yuan-Chun Chiu. In Proceedings of AAAI Fall Symposium on Health Dialog System. 64-70. Menlo Park, California: AAAI Press. 2004

The DARWARS Tactical Language Training System
W. Lewis Johnson, Stacy Marsella, Hannes Vilhjálmsson. Proceedings of I/ITSEC 2004.

Generating socially appropriate tutorial dialog
W. Lewis Johnson, Paula Rizzo, Wauter Bosma, Sander Kole, Mattijs Ghijsen, Herwin van Welbergen. In E. André et al (Eds.): Proceedings of 2004 Affective Dialogue Systems, Tutorial and Research Workshop. 254-264. Berlin: Springer. 1004. 2004

Tactical Language Training System: An interim report
W. Lewis Johnson, Carole Beal, Anna Fowles-Winkler, Ursula Lauper, Stacy Marsella, Shrikanth Narayanan, Dimitra Papachristou, Hannes Vilhjalmsson. Intelligent Tutoring Systems 2004. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 2004

Tactical language detection and modeling of learner speech errors: The case of Arabic tactical language training for American English speakers
Nicolaus Mote, W. Lewis Johnson, Abhinav Sethy, Jorge Silva, Shrikanth Narayanan. Procedings of the InSTIL Symposium, 47-50. 2004

Socially intelligent learner-agent interaction tactics
W. Lewis Johnson, Sander Kole, Erin Shaw, Helen Pain. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education. Amsterdam, IOS Press. 2003

Interactive pedagogical drama for health interventions
Stacy Marsella, W. Lewis Johnson, Catherine M. LaBore. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, Amsterdam, IOS Press, 2003

Animated pedagogical agents: Face-to-face interaction in interactive learning environments
W. Lewis Johnson, Jeff W. Rickel, James C. Lester. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 11, 47-78. 2000

Virtual humans for team training in virtual reality
Jeff Rickel, W. Lewis Johnson. Proceedings of the Internation Conference of Artifical Intelligence in Education, IOS Press. 1999

Building a case for agent-assisted learning as a catalyst for curriculum reform in medical education
Shaw, E. Ganeshan, R. & Johnson, W.L. In S.P. Lajoie and M. Vivet (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education, 509-516. Amsterdam: IOS Press. 1999

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Synergistic activities

Sponsorship co-chair, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2011

Local Arrangements Chair, International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2007

Secretary and President, International Artificial Intelligence in Education Society, 2000-2003

Program Co-Chair, International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems , 2002

Program Chair, Intelligent User Interfaces Conference, 2003

Chair, ACM Special Interest Group for Artificial Intelligence (SIGART), 1995-1999

Collaborators and other affiliations