The 91探花 today announced a foundational $10 million gift from philanthropists Charles and Lisa Simonyi to support groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

The gift will establish a new initiative, AI@UW, to support the UW鈥檚 global leadership in advancing AI, machine learning and related areas of computing. Noah A. Smith, currently the Amazon Professor of Machine Learning in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, will become the vice provost for artificial intelligence and the inaugural Charles and Lisa Simonyi Endowed Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies. The chair appointment is pending Board of Regents approval.

“With this generous gift from Charles and Lisa Simonyi, we will further position the 91探花as a model for how universities can responsibly and creatively adapt to the age of AI across education, research, administration and governance,鈥� 91探花Provost Tricia Serio said. 鈥淏y leading the AI@ 91探花initiative, Vice Provost Noah Smith will guide our efforts to accelerate innovation and collaboration, illuminate achievements, propagate effective practices throughout the 91探花community and beyond, and ensure that our graduates are prepared for the workforce of today and tomorrow.鈥�

91探花researchers and faculty already are globally recognized for cultivating a deep understanding of the science and potential of these rapidly developing technologies. Work at the 91探花is creating practical and responsible applications for AI that span the academic enterprise, contribute to industry and uplift society.

Charles and Lisa Simonyi have a long history of supporting the UW. Lisa Simonyi is the chair of the 91探花Foundation Board, and Charles Simonyi is a technical fellow at Microsoft, where he also was a pioneer in developing software applications.

鈥淭he future of computing, research and innovations is deeply connected to the next era in artificial intelligence and machine learning,鈥� Lisa and Charles Simonyi said. 鈥淲e believe in the UW鈥檚 ability to engage students and faculty toward discoveries that will transform the university, the region and, indeed, the world. We are pleased to lend our support to advancing this exciting, interdisciplinary field.鈥�

The Charles and Lisa Simonyi gift also will support the creation of an AI governance committee, student scholarships, community engagement and investments in computing resources and equipment.

鈥淭his extraordinary gift from the Simonyis demonstrates their vision and deep trust in the UW鈥檚 role as a global leader in innovation,鈥� 91探花President Robert J. Jones said. 鈥淚t is a foundational investment that will help ensure artificial intelligence is developed and applied responsibly 鈥� serving humanity and advancing knowledge in ways that reflect our shared values.鈥�

In the near term, the vice provost for artificial intelligence will establish a SEED-AI grant program to fund projects, led by 91探花faculty, that elevate the use of AI in 91探花educational activities. SEED-AI grants will support innovative, exploratory projects aiming to discover how AI can enhance learning and teaching across disciplines, enlighten the 91探花community, and inspire future developments of AI in the educational context.

Thanks to the Simonyi gift, Smith said, the 91探花will model how universities can responsibly and creatively adapt to the age of AI across education, research, administration and governance.

鈥淭he UW鈥檚 people are already leading the way in shaping universities in the time of AI,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲hile its rapid rise has been surprising, as an AI researcher and teacher I鈥檓 energized by the chance to promote AI literacy, explore how AI can enrich learning across disciplines and help steer AI’s development in ways that are most useful to the University鈥檚 mission.鈥�

Contact Smith at nasmith@cs.washington.edu.

Yocom has served as interim dean since October 2024 and is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, where he previously served as department chair. A longtime member of the 91探花faculty, Yocom brings deep institutional knowledge, a collaborative leadership style and a long-standing commitment to the college鈥檚 mission of advancing justice, sustainability and resilience through the built environment.

鈥淜en has been a thoughtful and steady leader during a critical period of transition,鈥� Serio said. 鈥淗e brings not only deep institutional knowledge but a clear vision for how the college can meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. His collaborative approach and student-centered focus will continue to strengthen the college鈥檚 impact in our region and beyond.鈥�

Yocom鈥檚 research and teaching examine the relationships between ecological systems and the built environment, with a particular focus on how infrastructure, water and landscape shape communities. His work reflects the college鈥檚 commitment to place-based, interdisciplinary solutions that respond to today鈥檚 most pressing societal challenges 鈥� from climate change to housing access to public health.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to continue leading this remarkable college 鈥� a community defined by purpose, creativity and care,鈥� Yocom said. 鈥淎t the College of Built Environments, we don鈥檛 just prepare students to design buildings or plan cities 鈥� we help them imagine and shape a better world. I鈥檓 inspired by the ways our faculty, staff and students come together to confront urgent challenges, and I鈥檓 excited for what we will build 鈥� together.鈥�

Yocom holds a master鈥檚 degree in landscape architecture and a doctorate in built environments from the 91探花. As dean, he will lead a college that brings together architecture, construction management, landscape architecture, real estate and urban planning in pursuit of transformative solutions for communities and the planet.

Every year, undergraduates at the 91探花 start their college experience, often in cavernous classrooms, learning alongside dozens, if not hundreds, of their peers. Research shows that taking these courses 鈥� some prerequisites and other classes on popular topics 鈥� can make students feel isolated, scared and not up to the task.

To confront loneliness and promote student well-being, the 91探花is piloting a two-year project called 鈥淔ive for Flourishing鈥� that provides instructors with five simple academic interventions to support students and help them succeed. Sponsored by the , the and the Provost鈥檚 office, Five for Flourishing鈥檚 initial cohort 鈥� 13 instructors of large classes from all three 91探花campuses 鈥� will use the strategies to help welcome students, show compassion and support them in their academic journeys.

鈥淎ddressing mental health and well-being on a college campus requires a comprehensive approach,鈥� said , director of the Resilience Lab, whose mission is to promote well-being among 91探花students, faculty and staff. 鈥淭his is an intervention where we can activate the learning environment for undergraduate students in large classes with minimal effort by the instructors and make a difference.鈥�

Inspired by similar, but more intensive programs at other institutions, Philip Reid, vice provost of Academic and Student Affairs, and Marisa Nickle, senior director of Strategy & Academic Initiatives, saw an opportunity for the UW鈥檚 students. What emerged is a simple turnkey program that provides instructors with interventions to work into their curriculums.

“We know that students, especially incoming first-year students, can experience anxiety and stress at times,鈥� Provost Tricia Serio said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited to offer our instructors a program that welcomes students and helps set them on a path to succeed in the classroom and on campus, while acknowledging that they may be navigating these challenging feelings.鈥�

In 2020, the Resilience Lab published an for instructors that outlined a number of interventions to support student well-being. By contrast, Five for Flourishing is designed to be a streamlined, simple tool for instructors to add to their teaching plan.

Here鈥檚 how it works: Five for Flourishing begins by adding a message to course syllabuses that welcomes students, creates a sense of belonging and normalizes asking for support, even when students are stressed by factors outside the classroom.

Next, Five for Flourishing provides a quarter鈥檚 worth of welcome-to-class slides specific to each 91探花campus that point to wellness resources, cultural happenings, ways to participate in democracy, and opportunities for students to connect with one another.

Instructors will encourage students, especially before and after exams or big assignments, to adopt a growth mindset 鈥� the notion that these academic tasks aren鈥檛 a reflection of their self-worth or intelligence, but rather a method to determine a student鈥檚 strengths and areas for additional learning.

鈥淭his builds on a lot of research on the misperception that intelligence is fixed,鈥� said , director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. 鈥淭he reality is that intelligence isn’t fixed and that people can grow.鈥�

Research also shows that when students connect with one another, they鈥檙e more likely to do well academically and socially, which in turn makes them more likely to graduate. Five for Flourishing instructors will place students in small groups and invite them to discuss course material, build their professional communication skills and experience group problem solving. The students鈥� only assignment is to take notes on their discussions and share those with the instructor.

鈥淭his builds on the idea that prompting students to get together in really low-stakes environments helps establish a secondary support network that they can tap when they run into trouble,鈥� Moon said. 鈥淚t overcomes the idea of just going into class and looking straight ahead and not looking sideways.鈥�

Finally, Five for Flourishing instructors conduct a mid-quarter check in with their students to ask what鈥檚 working well and what could be better, what鈥檚 helping them to learn and what鈥檚 hindering their success.

鈥淢any of the professors at 91探花have real compassion and care for students, and this project helps them to channel that compassion and care in really productive ways,鈥� Moon said.

Every student will be asked to complete a survey at the beginning and end of the quarter. That data will inform how to adjust and continue to scale the program. Instructors will also receive a small stipend for participating.

, a teaching professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at 91探花Tacoma, is in the inaugural Five for Flourishing teaching cohort. He鈥檚 already been using similar academic interventions for all his classes, including high-enrollment courses like popular games programming. Building upon his existing tools, he鈥檚 excited to see these student supports scale up and reach more undergraduates.

鈥淓very single faculty member that I’ve had a chance to chat with, all of them care so deeply about student experience, that is also what I care about,鈥� Marriott said. 鈥淪preading this out to more faculty, after we have some data and feedback, is going to be awesome.鈥�

In Seattle, also plans to use Five for Flourishing in her Intro to Medical Anthropology course, with 225 students, and Comparative Study of Death, with 80 students. While she too had compassionate components to her teaching, she appreciates the framework of Five for Flourishing, the training she鈥檚 received, and, as a scientist, she鈥檚 looking forward to seeing the data from the student surveys to see what is and isn鈥檛 working as intended.

She鈥檚 seen students who struggle with anxiety and loneliness, students who are afraid to walk into class, or are balancing long commutes, family demands and academics. Programs like Five for Flourishing establish universal accommodations to uplift and support the entire student body.

鈥淭he University, in doing this Five for Flourishing, is setting a stone, a ground stone, to say to our community, 鈥楲ook, we do have a problem here, and this is one way to solve it,鈥欌�� Saravia said.

Helping students understand that they are not alone will have benefits for their entire lives.

鈥淔eeling lonely has social impacts. If you feel lonely, you’re less engaged. And if we are less engaged, we have less possibilities of a thriving democracy. If we don’t know how to talk to one another, how to find common ground, or how to set boundaries, or how to see a problem together, how to even think about it together 鈥� If we don’t have that, we are in trouble as a society,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m very hopeful that Five for Flourishing will give all of us a strong start to change that and to inspire students to learn from one another, to see each other. I’m hopeful, too, that engagement with one another will build community, and teach them to have effective engagement with the world.鈥�

Eight professors at the 91探花 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, the organization . The Academy said members are elected 鈥渋n recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.鈥�听

The 2023 cohort includes 29 new members. Twenty-six were elected by current WSAS members, and the other three were selected because they recently joined one of the National Academies.听听

The 91探花faculty who will be formally inducted in September are:听听

• , Kirby & Kelly Cramer Endowed Professor of Nursing, for 鈥渃ontributions to improving public health systems and services. Foundational to Senator Murray鈥檚 , her research supports collection of standardized public health financial data assessing impact.鈥�听
• , associate professor of microbiology and of genome sciences at the 91探花School of Medicine and professor and investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, for 鈥渃ontributions to our understanding of viral evolution and how mutations shape a pathogen鈥檚 ability to infect and spread. His discoveries have driven the scientific and public discourse on numerous viruses, including influenza, HIV, and most recently SARS-CoV-2.鈥�听
• , Washington Research Foundation Innovation Professor in Clean Energy and professor of mechanical engineering, for 鈥渙utstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of battery electrode architectures and the development of advanced manufacturing methods to accelerate commercialization of materials processing technology.鈥�听
• , professor of sociology and of public policy and governance, director of the and associate vice provost for research, for 鈥済roundbreaking work in demography and the sociology of migration, taking a multi-faceted approach that illuminates the dynamic interplay between demographic conditions and factors such as gender, socio-economic context, and climate change.鈥�听
• , research professor of microbiology at the 91探花School of Medicine, professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and director of the Pathogen-Associated Malignancies Integrated Research Center, for “For contributions to advancing our understanding of the role that small DNA tumor viruses 鈥� human papillomaviruses (HPV) and human polyomavirus (HPyV) 鈥� play in cancer development.”
• , J. Ray Bowen Endowed Professor for Innovation in Engineering Education and professor of aeronautics and astronautics, for 鈥渆xtraordinary contributions to guidance and control of autonomous and distributed aerospace systems, for leadership in educational innovations, and for advancing aerospace technology transfers leading to industry research collaborations throughout his career.鈥�听
• , Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor of Information Systems and chair of the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, for 鈥渙utstanding contributions to advance our understanding of how technologies impact the behaviors and decision-making of individuals, organizations, and society in the contexts of e-commerce, social media, fintech, healthcare, and sharing economy.鈥�听
• , Thomas and Marilyn Nielsen Endowed Professor in Engineering, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of PacTrans and STAR Lab, for 鈥減ioneering contributions to traffic sensing, transportation data science, edge AI, and smart infrastructure system theory and technologies, as well as the exceptional leadership in regional collaborations among academia, industry, and agencies for creating transformational mobility solutions.鈥�听

Correction: An earlier version of this release omitted the election of Denise Galloway to the Academy.

A first-generation college graduate, Serio is Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Serio is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and previously served at UMass Amherst as Associate Chancellor for Strategic Academic Planning and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences. She has also held research and professorial positions at the University of Arizona (2012-2017), Brown University (2002-2012) and Yale University (2001-2002).

鈥淚鈥檓 delighted to welcome Tricia to the 91探花 and look forward to working closely with her to advance access and opportunities for students, both inside and outside the classroom,鈥� Cauce said. 鈥淗er outstanding record as an educator, researcher and leader make her the ideal person to help drive our mission of creating and accelerating discovery, learning and service for the public good.鈥�

Serio succeeds Mark Richards, who has held the role at the 91探花since July 2018 and is stepping down this summer. Richards, a geophysicist, will retain his position as a professor of Earth and space sciences in the UW鈥檚 College of the Environment and plans to continue his research and teaching. Serio鈥檚 appointment culminates a national search that began in November. A 17-member search committee including administrators, faculty and student representatives recommended three finalists for campus visits, presentations and Q&A sessions that took place last month.

Pending Regents鈥� approval, Serio will also hold a faculty appointment in the Department of Biochemistry in the 91探花School of Medicine. Faculty in the department voted to approve the appointment this week.

鈥淚 am deeply honored to have been selected as the next Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs,鈥� Serio said. 鈥淚 have long admired the 91探花 for its focus on excellence, and I am excited to partner with President Cauce and the faculty, staff and students to support the individual and collective aspirations that define its impact in the world.鈥�

Serio launched and led initiatives at UMass Amherst to increase diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for faculty, staff and students, which included direct support for students to improve retention and an equity action plan for faculty with an emphasis on workload. She also established initiatives to promote faculty scholarship and creative activity that focused on sustainability, healthy aging, society and technology, inclusive excellence, data science and mid-career research leaves.

Serio鈥檚 research focuses on the cellular regulation of self-perpetuating protein conformations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and her scholarship has advanced understanding of severe neurodegenerative diseases in mammals and how to reverse them. She has earned numerous recognitions for her research, including being named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow, a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Postdoctoral Fellow, and a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. She also received the Howard Temin Award from the National Cancer Institute and the Mid-Career Award for Research Excellence from the American Society of Cell Biology, and she is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in molecular biology at Lehigh University, Serio completed a master鈥檚 degree and Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale in 1995 and 1997, respectively.

Serio is married to Jeff Laney, a senior biology lecturer, and has two sons, Jacob and Eli. Jacob will attend Pitzer College as a first-year student this year, while Eli is looking forward to the family鈥檚 move to Seattle this summer.

Last fall President Obama called for a federal college rating system that appraises colleges on access, affordability and success that will govern the allocation of federal student aid dollars. While the rating system has yet to be developed, the Center on Higher Education Reform wanted to consider possible implications of the proposed ratings and came up with its own measures: the number of students receiving Pell grants served as an indicator of access, the net price as an indicator of affordability, and six-year graduation rate as an indicator of success. Net price, according to the center is the out-of-pocket costs, after grants and scholarships, that the average aid recipient paid in a given year.

As one part of its analysis, the center found only 19 institutions out of 1,700 that meet three requirements: 25 percent or more of students receive Pell grants from the U.S. government, the net price is less than $10,000 and the graduation rate in six years is 50 percent or better. The UW鈥檚 graduation rate of 81 percent placed it second among the 19 universities, well above the rest that were in the 50-60 percent range.

“We are very gratified to be among the small number of universities that met all three criteria,” said 91探花Provost Ana Mari Cauce. “These measures show that we remain affordable and accessible to those from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and that if they come here, they have a very high expectation and likelihood of graduating with their degree. We are the only flagship research university among this group, and that means not only will they graduate, but they will get an excellent education.”

The center relied on data from the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

At the UW, 25 percent of students receive Pell grants, the net price is $9,400 and the graduation rate is 81 percent, according to the integrated data system.

Other institutions meeting the bar included four from California 鈥� San Diego State University; California State University, Long Beach; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; and California State University, Fullerton 鈥� and from eight other states and Puerto Rico.

For all the schools examined, the report says, “The good news is very few institutions are terrible on all three marks. The bad news is very few institutions appear to have broken the iron triangle,” that is the challenge of access, affordability and quality.

Launched last June by the , the Center on Higher Education Reform’s website says it “conducts independent, data-driven research and analysis designed to inform policymaking and shape the higher education reform conversation.”

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For more information:
Norm Arkans, 206-543-2560, arkans@uw.edu