Newsletter of the ACM Special Interest Group on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation
Table of Contents
Editorial
Welcome to the 2nd (Summer) 2026 issue of the SIGEvolution newsletter! This issue is dedicated to the memory of Günter Rudolph, who sadly passed away on May 24th, 2026, after a short stay in hospital. Günter Rudolph advanced evolutionary algorithms through rigorous, scientifically sound and internationally recognized research. His interdisciplinary work in music informatics merged computational science with aesthetics, beautifully illustrating his scientific openness and intellectual curiosity. As the tributes in this issue confirm, Günter was a dedicated and approachable mentor who championed interdisciplinary research and guided numerous careers. His global impact was recently recognized with the prestigious IEEE Evolutionary Computation Pioneer Award. The evolutionary computation community loses an outstanding pioneer, dedicated mentor, and valued colleague whose legacy will endure.
We continue with the summary of a PhD dissertation and