James Bellingham is a pioneer in the development of autonomous marine robots. He has led and participated in research expeditions around the world from the Arctic to the Antarctic. He is the founding director of the Center of Marine Robotics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, founded the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Laboratory at MIT, and cofounded Bluefin Robotics. He serves on numerous advisory committees and boards, including the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel and several National Academies studies, and he chairs the Naval Research Advisory Committee.

Dr. Bellingham’s honors include the Lockheed Martin Award for Ocean Science and Engineering, and selection as the MIT Fourteenth Robert Bruce Wallace lecturer. He received his SB, SM, and PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.