Yannis Paschalidis and John Byers Appointed Co-Directors Within Boston University’s AIDA Initiative
Today, Boston University launched the Artificial Intelligence Development Accelerator (AIDA) Initiative. Hariri Institute Director Yannis Paschalidis, Distinguished Professor (ECE, SE, BME) of Engineering and Founding Professor of Computing & Data Sciences, and Hariri Institute Faculty Affiliate, John Byers, Professor of Computer Science and Former Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty for Mathematical & Computational Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, will serve as the AIDA Co-Directors of AI in Academics.
Through AIDA, Boston University strives to catalyze the development, adoption, and governance of AI across the university. The AIDA website provides guidance for how to incorporate AI into teaching, research, and administration, as well as helpful case studies, resources, and tools for Boston University’s faculty, staff, and students.
As co-directors, Paschalidis and Byers will focus on defining and enforcing AI’s role in academics. Bob Graham, Associate Vice President, Enterprise Architecture and Applications, Information Services & Technology, will serve as AIDA’s Interim Chief AI Officer of AI in Administration and Ken Lutchen, Senior Advisor to the President, Strategy & Innovation and Dean of Engineering, Emeritus, will serve as AIDA’s Interim Executive Director.
While AIDA is Boston University’s first university-wide resource for AI development, it builds on the work of two task forces at BU, one focusing on the impact of AI in research and teaching and the other on how AI could enhance administrative functions throughout the University. AIDA is being built on a solid foundation of BU’s leadership and long-standing investments in AI, including the creation of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, graduate programs in AI, the Hariri Institute-based AI Research and Education Initiatives, and the BU AI Research Resource (BU AIRR) Program.
The BU AI Task Force on Research and Teaching was led by Paschalidis and Hariri Faculty Affiliate Wesley Wildman, Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics and Chair of Faculty Affairs for Computing & Data Sciences. The BU AI Task Force for Administrative Processes was led by Graham and Kelly Lockard, Assistant Vice President, Continuous Improvement & Data Analytics. From 2023 to 2024, the Task Force conducted research, consulted experts, and developed best practices for AI’s applications in teaching, research, and administrative processes.
Similar to the Task Force, the BU AIRR Program also supported AI research. Through funding from the Hariri Institute, the College of Engineering, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Office of Research, BU AIRR enabled and seeded large-scale AI research at Boston University by providing access to powerful production cloud resources of the New England Research Cloud (NERC). In 2024, the BU-AIRR program awarded $290,000 to 26 AI research projects from 35 BU faculty members affiliated with six colleges and 13 departments.
The work conducted through these programs paved the way for AIDA and offers examples of AI’s vast potential to accelerate research, enhance teaching, and streamline University operations. Read more about AIDA in BU Today.