This paper presents an intelligent model reference adaptive control (MRAC) utilizing a self-recurrent wavelet neural network (SRWNN) to control nonlinear systems. The proposed SRWNN is an improved version of a previously reported wavelet neural network (WNN). In particular, this improvement was achieved by adopting two modifications to the original WNN structure. These modifications include, firstly, the utilization of a specific initialization phase to improve the convergence to the optimal weight values, and secondly, the inclusion of self-feedback weights to the wavelons of the wavelet layer. Furthermore, an on-line training procedure was proposed to enhance the control performance of the SRWNN-based MRAC. As the training method, the recently developed modified micro artificial immune system (MMAIS) was used to optimize the parameters of the SRWNN. The effectiveness of this control approach was demonstrated by controlling several nonlinear dynamical systems. For each of these systems, several evaluation tests were conducted, including control performance tests, robustness tests, and generalization tests. From these tests, the SRWNN-based MRAC has exhibited its effectiveness regarding accurate control, disturbance rejection, and generalization ability. In addition, a comparative study was made with other related controllers, namely the original WNN, the artificial neural network (ANN), and the modified recurrent network (MRN). The results of these comparison tests indicated the superiority of the SRWNN controller over the other related controllers. Keywords: Artificial neural network, micro artificial immune system, model reference adaptive control, self-recurrent wavelet neural network , Wavelet neural network.