Penn State Names Vasant Honavar as First Vice Provost for AI
Penn State has appointed Vasant Honavar as its inaugural vice provost for artificial intelligence, effective June 1. Honavar will oversee the university's AI strategy across teaching, learning, research and operations.
Honavar currently holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Biomedical Data Sciences and Artificial Intelligence in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and serves as a professor in the Department of Informatics and Intelligent Systems. He will report to Senior Vice Provost and Chief of Staff Josh Davis.
Research Background and Track Record
Honavar brings more than 30 years of experience in AI research and institutional leadership. His work spans machine learning, knowledge representation, causal modeling and data sciences, with applications in bioinformatics and health informatics.
He has authored over 300 scientific publications and led or co-led research projects funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Defense totaling more than $100 million. He will maintain an active research program while serving as vice provost.
At Penn State, Honavar directs the Center for Artificial Intelligence Foundations and Scientific Applications and serves as director of strategic initiatives in the Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences. Before joining Penn State in 2013, he spent 23 years at Iowa State University, where he co-led one of the first doctoral programs in bioinformatics and computational biology.
He also served as a program director at the NSF's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems from 2010 to 2013, leading the Big Data Science and Engineering Program. The NSF recognized him with its Director's Award for Superior Accomplishment in 2013, and he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Key Priorities and Institutional Role
In his new role, Honavar will work with Penn State's AI Coordinating Council and other advisory groups to align the university's AI strategy with institutional values and long-term goals. His priorities include:
- Integrating university-wide AI literacy, experiential learning and research innovation
- Expanding AI competencies and equitable access to AI initiatives for students, faculty and staff
- Fostering responsible and ethical adoption of AI tools in research, curricula and operations
- Building partnerships with academia, industry, government and nonprofits for research and workforce development
- Strengthening Penn State's leadership in AI foundations and human-centered AI across the sciences
- Applying AI to healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture and related fields through the university's land-grant mission
Crystal Ramsay has been appointed associate vice provost for AI and will lead the new AI Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning under Honavar. Ramsay, currently senior director for Teaching and Learning with Technology, will oversee Penn State's institution-wide AI literacy program.
Education and Credentials
Honavar holds a doctorate and master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from Bangalore University.
He co-led development of Penn State's bachelor of science in artificial intelligence methods and applications and an inter-college undergraduate degree in data sciences. He also co-led an NIH-funded biomedical data sciences doctoral training program drawing on expertise across multiple academic programs and campuses.
For more information on AI initiatives at Penn State, visit the university's AI website.
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