We are pleased to announce that Professor Michael Posner, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science, has been elected as an Academician of the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness (WAAC), in recognition of his important contributions to attention networks, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive control, attentional regulation, developmental cognitive neuroscience, self-regulation, brain network mechanisms, and research on the relationship between attention and consciousness.
Professor Michael Posner is a distinguished scholar with foundational influence in contemporary psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and attention research. He has long been dedicated to studying the structure, function, development, and neural mechanisms of the human attention system, systematically revealing how attention networks such as alerting, orienting, and executive control support information selection, behavioral regulation, cognitive control, and conscious processing. His research has not only advanced our understanding of attention, perception, language processing, brain imaging, childhood attention development, and self-regulation mechanisms, but has also laid an important foundation for the emergence of cognitive neuroscience as an independent interdisciplinary field. Through reaction-time experiments, brain imaging, cognitive tasks, developmental research, and genetic approaches, Professor Posner has deeply integrated experimental paradigms in psychology with methods from neuroscience, providing classic theoretical frameworks and methodological tools for understanding how brain networks implement complex mental operations. He has received major honors including the 2008 U.S. National Medal of Science and the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science, making outstanding contributions to global research in psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience.
WAAC believes that the study of artificial consciousness requires not only advances in artificial intelligence, neuroscience, computational models, and philosophical theory, but also a deep understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of attentional selection, consciousness regulation, cognitive control, self-regulation, and goal-directed behavior in biological cognitive systems. Professor Posner’s work in attention networks, cognitive control, brain imaging, attention development, and self-regulation provides important theoretical resources and experimental foundations for selective attention, conscious resource allocation, cognitive control models, goal regulation in intelligent agents, attention-driven artificial intelligence architectures, interpretable cognitive systems, and consciousness-like regulatory mechanisms in future artificial agents. His research path, spanning experimental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental science, brain imaging, and neural network mechanisms, offers significant inspiration for connecting biological consciousness research with artificial consciousness modeling.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to attention networks, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive control, attentional regulation, developmental cognitive neuroscience, self-regulation, brain network mechanisms, and research on the relationship between attention and consciousness, the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness has decided to confer upon Professor Michael Posner the title of WAAC Academician.
- Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem
WAAC Academicians come from world-leading universities, national academy systems, and frontier research institutions, including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the University of California, Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, University College London, the University of Padua, the University of Queensland, the University of Exeter, the French Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and the Max Planck Institute. The body of Academicians includes multiple Nobel Prize laureates, Turing Award laureates, members of national academies of sciences and engineering, Fellows of the Royal Society, and Fellows of internationally important academic organizations such as IEEE, AAAI, AAAS, and the British Academy. By bringing together leading scholars in natural consciousness research, machine consciousness modeling, brain science mechanisms, cognitive robotics, deep learning, brain-computer interfaces, and AI governance, WAAC has built an artificial consciousness research ecosystem that combines scientific depth, technological frontier orientation, philosophical insight, and global collaborative capacity, demonstrating its academic foundation and international influence in the emerging field of artificial consciousness science.
- About WAAC
The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.