Azer Bestavros

Professor, Computer Science, CAS

Azer Bestavros is the Founding Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing at Boston University. He is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and holds affiliated appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering and in Systems Engineering.

Created in 2011, the Institute supports the BU computing community by incubating collaborative, cross-disciplinary research and training initiatives. As director, Bestavros led several major university initiatives, including the Data Science Initiative, which was launched in 2014 and aims to expand the University’s data science footprint through new programs, tracks, and faculty support initiatives. Serving as co-chair of the Council on Educational Technology & Learning Innovation, Bestavros supported the successful incubation of the Digital Learning Initiative, which has matured and joined with additional entities to form the University’s Digital Learning & Innovation group. Bestavros led BU’s faculty involvement in the conception of the Massachusetts Green High-Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), which provides world-class computational infrastructure for research, education and outreach activities. Under his leadership, the Institute served as anchor for a number of other initiatives, including the Digital Health Initiative, the AI Research Initiative (AIR), the Cyber Security, Law, and Society Alliance, the Software & Application Innovation Lab (SAIL), and the BU Spark! Program for student-driven innovation.