DEDICATION

iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout my doctoral studies at George Mason University, I have interacted with many excellent faculty, staff, and students. I especially wish to acknowledge the support of my dissertation director, Ken De Jong. I have been extremely fortunate to have had access to his considerable insight into the field of evolutionary computation. I also thank my other committee members Ken Hintz, Eugene Norris, and Gheorghe Tecuci for their helpful comments and suggestions regarding this work. I am also grateful to doctoral students Jayshree Sarma, Alan Schultz, Bill Spears, and Haleh Vafaie for their companionship and their willingness to listen when I needed a sounding board for ideas; research librarians Maryalls Bedford, Amy Keyser, and Cathy Wiley at the Naval Research Laboratory for their help in tracking down references; Eric Bloedor