Odest Jenkins

Odest Chadwicke Jenkins (born 1975) is an American computer scientist who is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Michigan. Jenkins works on human–computer interaction and the design of robotic systems that learn from demonstration. He was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2006 and made a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019.

Early life and education Jenkins enjoyed playing Atari as a child and wanted to become a videogame designer. He became aware of Alma College because his mother worked with former President Alan Stone. Jenkins studied computer science and mathematics at Alma College. In 1993, he was inducted onto the Alma College Dean's List, and in 1996 won the Senior Leadership Award. Together with his classmate, Jim Blum, Jenkins set up the first Alma College web server in 1997.

Research and career In 2004 Jenkins joined Brown University as an assistant professor. Here he created a Robot Operating System (ROS) repository to improve reproducibility and interoperability of his robotic systems. He was promoted to associate professor in 2010. In 2013 Jenkins was made a National Geographic explorer. In 2015 Jenkins joined the Computer Science and Engineering Division of the University of Michigan where he was made a professor in Michigan's Robotics Institute.

Jenkins works on robot Learning from Demonstration (LfD), which looks to automate the processes behind human decision making and movement. Robots that are trained using LfD learn from user demonstration (as opposed to learning explicitly from a computer program). For example, Jenkins taught a robot to do the Cabbage Patch by programming it to watch dance moves and then attempt to replicate them. With Henry Evans, a gentleman paralysed by stroke, Jenkins delivered a TED Talk on how robotics can benefit humanity. Jenkins created a quadrotor drone that allowed Evans to see parts of the world that had previously been inaccessible to him. He has supported students from underrepresented backgrounds in their participation at the Tapia Conference for the Celebration of Diversity in Computing. Jenkins led organisation of the Conference for African-Americans in the Mathematical Sciences.

Awards and honours 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers 2015 Brown University Karen T. Romer Prize for Undergraduate Advising and Mentoring 2017 University of Michigan Trudy Huebner Service Excellence Award 2025 ACM Fellow

Selected publications

Jenkins serves on the editorial board of the ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.