Lionel P. Robert

Dr. Lionel P. Robert Jr. serves as Professor of Information and Robotics at the University of Michigan's School of Information and College of Engineering, where he directs the Michigan Autonomous Vehicle Research Intergroup Collaboration (MAVRIC). After completing his PhD in Information Systems from Indiana University as a BAT Fellow and KPMG Scholar, he has established himself as a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction and virtual team collaboration with over 44,000 citations. His work spans multiple areas including autonomous vehicles, security robots, and virtual team dynamics, earning him recognition as an ACM Distinguished Member, AIS Distinguished Member "Cum Laude", and IEEE Senior Member. As director of MAVRIC and through his research sponsored by organizations like Toyota Research Institute and the National Science Foundation, he continues to advance understanding of human-robot collaboration while developing frameworks for trust and team effectiveness. His expertise particularly shines in studying how humans interact with and trust autonomous systems, demonstrated through his influential work on virtual teams, emotional attachment to robots, and fair AI design for employee management. Through his appearances in major media outlets including ABC, CNN, and the New York Times, he helps bridge academic research with public understanding of human-robot interaction while maintaining active investigation of emerging collaborative technologies.