with distinction in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1970, after having initially majored in naval architecture and engineering.

Richard Sutton, with whom he co-authored the influential book Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (MIT Press 1998; 2nd edition 2018), was his first PhD student.

[3] Barto published over one hundred papers or chapters in journals, books, and conference and workshop proceedings.

He is co-author with Richard Sutton of the book Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction, MIT Press 1998 (2nd edition 2018), and co-editor with Jennie Si, Warren Powell, and Don Wunch II of the Handbook of Learning and Approximate Dynamic Programming, Wiley-IEEE Press, 2004.

His citation for the latter read:Professor Barto is recognized for his groundbreaking and impactful research in both the theory and application of reinforcement learning.