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Announcing AI for ImpaCT: UConn’s University-Wide AI Initiative

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Dear Colleagues,

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we work, learn, and live. Over the past several months, I have been engaging with our community to shape a University-wide initiative to be responsive to AI advancements and coordinate AI-related work across units.  I have met personally with the University Senate and faculty, staff, and academic leaders in small groups and during school and college meetings. Those conversations have made clear that UConn has important strengths in AI, that we need a framework to build on our strengths, and to guide and coordinate our institutional strategy around AI in an ever-changing technological landscape.

Coordinated Leadership Around AI

Today, I’m pleased to announce AI for ImpaCT, a coordinated university-wide initiative designed to connect and advance AI efforts across our academic, research, operational, and public service missions. The goal of AI for ImpaCT is to support interconnectivity among teaching, learning, research, innovation, and societal impact and to encourage safe, ethical, and responsible use of AI. The vision for beneficial and ethical AI is beautifully articulated by one of our student clubs.

The leadership structure around AI for ImpaCT is taking shape. I have appointed David Bergman, Associate Dean for Faculty & Research and Professor of Operations and Information Management, as the Provost’s Special Advisor on AI to help coordinate AI for ImpaCT initiatives across the university and advise my office on emerging issues related to AI in teaching, research, workforce development, and university operations.

The Special Advisor will chair an AI Council comprised of representatives from across the university including faculty, staff, and students. The AI Council will help set priorities, identify opportunities and challenges, and support university-wide coordination as AI continues to evolve. Consistent with UConn’s commitment to shared governance, the AI Council will serve as a coordinating resource and work closely with the University Senate and other governance bodies on AI-related matters within their areas of responsibility.

The AI Council will work closely with university leadership, ITS, UConn Health, and administrative units as the university explores AI applications and technologies, institutional needs, training, and the use of AI tools across university operations. A smaller AI Executive Committee comprised of members of the AI Council will liaise with the Special Advisor to advance priority initiatives and coordinate work between meetings of the broader AI Council.

The AI Council will support development of a university-wide web presence to help share resources, updates, opportunities for engagement, and ways for members of the UConn community to participate in this work. I also encourage faculty, staff, students, and partners to share ideas and engage with the Council as opportunities emerge.

CURRENT INITIATIVES

The initiatives and work areas below reflect some of the important work being done at UConn to prepare our community for the AI transition.

Preparing Students for an AI-Enabled Future

Preparing learners for a world increasingly shaped by AI will be an important part of AI for ImpaCT. In partnership with the AI Council and in consultation with deans, faculty experts, and the University Senate, we will continue building academic programs and learning opportunities that align with both student interest and workforce needs.

Earlier this year, the Board of Trustees approved the university’s first graduate certificate built around an “AI + X” model with the launch of AI for Business through The Graduate School. We expect additional programs in other disciplines to follow in the next academic year.

The AI Council and AI Executive Committee will work closely with academic units to help guide the development of proposals for an undergraduate minor in AI, with the goal of launching as early as this fall, and a university-wide undergraduate AI major is targeted to launch in Fall 2027. We are in the process of evaluating how programs such as the M.S. in Data Science can help support and expand AI-related education and research opportunities across the university. There are also several existing programs across the schools and colleges that include concentrations in AI or have foundational AI topics infused in the curriculum.

In addition to degree programs, UConn will expand AI literacy and workforce development through online and non-credit offerings, employer partnerships, and micro-credentials that could potentially support both current students and members of the broader community.

Teaching, Learning, and the Use of AI

Faculty, staff, and students are already working through questions related to teaching, learning, assessment, academic integrity, research, privacy, fairness, and the use of AI applications across academic and administrative settings. We will continue building guidance and support in these areas by drawing on expertise that exists in our university community.

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, The Graduate School, and faculty and staff in the schools and colleges are helping support AI efforts through faculty development, course design support, guidance for graduate students and instructors, and ongoing conversations around appropriate and effective uses of AI in academic settings.

The AI Council will be charged with helping coordinate AI efforts in teaching and learning, identifying areas where additional support is needed, and sharing effective practices with the University community.

AI Research and Public Engagement

AI-related research and scholarship are being conducted at UConn in many disciplines. Faculty are advancing foundational AI research, applying AI across industries and professions, and examining the broader societal impact of these technologies in fields such as healthcare, business, engineering, education, the humanities, social sciences, and the arts. The Humanities Institute’s “AI and the Human” initiative is one example of interdisciplinary scholarship exploring the societal  implications of AI.

UConn’s partnerships with organizations such as Morgan Stanley, Intel, Eversource, Electric Boat, Pratt & Whitney, and many more, along with ongoing clinical, research and educational efforts at UConn Health, are creating new opportunities for applied research, workforce partnerships, and public engagement connected to AI.

Federal agencies and other major funders continue expanding investments in AI-related research in many sectors. The Office of the Vice President for Research is already leading campus-wide discussions about UConn’s strengths to identify opportunities for greater interdisciplinary collaboration and external partnerships.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Partnerships

Connecticut’s workforce needs to adapt as AI reshapes industries and professions, and UConn will play a major role in preparing our state for a rapidly changing future by offering continuing education, online learning, non-credit programs, and employer partnerships. Earlier in this message, I referenced the potential for expanded micro-credentials and other flexible learning opportunities that can help both current students and working professionals build AI literacy and discipline-specific skills throughout their careers.

We also see strong connections between AI and UConn’s growing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Important work is already happening through schools and colleges, research centers, UConn Health, the Werth Institute, and other campus partners. As AI for ImpaCT develops, we want to connect these efforts and support opportunities related to startups, technology transfer, industry collaboration, educational technology, and other forms of innovation and revenue generation connected to AI.

Moving Forward

As Connecticut continues to establish policies and frameworks like the bill recently passed by the General Assembly, UConn and the AI Council have a responsibility to help guide the state through opportunities and challenges AI presents across education, industry, healthcare, and the workforce. UConn is well positioned to understand AI and anticipate what may come in the future to help inform policy decisions.

I’m excited about the conversations ahead and grateful for the thoughtfulness, creativity, and expertise that so many members of our community are already bringing to this space. I look forward to advancing the work of the AI for ImpaCT initiative with you and will continue to share updates on our progress.

Pamir Alpay, PhD
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
University of Connecticut

Professor Deirdre Simmons

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AI is a technological advancement that has been met with criticism and suspicion, especially in the academic arena.  COMM 2100 – Professional Communication, taught by Deirdre Simmons, is a redesigned course that embraces AI and promotes its practical and ethical use through contextual learning, Socratic questioning , and lectures within the context of professional communication.  The text used is “Clear Communication, Powerful Results,” and some of the course objectives are to:

• Identify and analyze ethical issues in AI through real-world professional case studies.

• Apply ethical decision frameworks to AI-driven crisis communication situations.

• Utilize AI tools to develop innovative solutions for communication challenges faced by organizations.

• Design and implement effective AI-powered social media campaigns to mitigate organizational crises.

• Create reports and cover letters that are AI-assisted, and student-edited to reflect their authentic voice

Posted in AI

PHYS 1201Q

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Algebra-Based Introductory Physics, taught by Dr. Aslı Tandoğan, integrates AI-powered teaching tools developed using open-source generative AI models (Ollama), hosted on a server provided by CLAS IT (Eric Soares). The system includes custom-built Model Context Protocols (MCPs) that allow the AI to go beyond static answers by solving problems, triggering workflows, and interacting with external tools in real time.

Key Features:

• Real-time student interaction via custom User Interface

• AI functions as an in-class teaching assistant

• Covers algebra, kinematics, forces, and more

• MCPs extend AI capabilities beyond text generation

• Supports hands-on conceptual learning during lectures

Undergraduate student Jakub Pierog contributed to the development of the MCP servers used in this project.

Posted in AI

Dr. Luyi Sun, 2025 Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor

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The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor title is awarded annually following a university-wide nomination process and a rigorous review by a faculty and student committee. Final selections are approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which confirmed this year’s awardees at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Luyi Sun

Dr. Luyi Sun is a globally recognized materials scientist and professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Connecticut, where he also holds a joint appointment in the Institute of Materials Science. Since joining UConn in 2013, he has led an internationally renowned research program focused on nanostructured hybrid materials for functional, environmental, and energy-related applications.

Dr. Sun’s prolific contributions to science are evidenced by over 310 peer-reviewed journal articles in high-impact publications such as Nature Communications, Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Advanced Materials. His work has earned more than 23,000 citations and an h-index of 83, and has been highlighted by MIT Technology Review, Smithsonian Magazine, and New Scientist, among many others. He is the inventor or co-inventor of 28 issued U.S. patents and more than 50 corresponding foreign patents, seven of which have been commercialized/licensed. The materials and devices invented in his lab have been featured in global exhibitions, including at the Material ConneXion Library in New York and the Penn Museum.

Dr. Sun is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. He has also been recognized with the Morand Lambla Award from the Polymer Processing Society and was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Sun has taught rigorous and interdisciplinary courses such as Thermodynamics and Polymer Processing, and has advised dozens of Ph.D. students, M.S. students and postdoctoral researchers, and more than 160 undergraduate research assistants. His students have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry, and many have received prestigious fellowships and national honors.

Dr. Sun has also demonstrated sustained leadership in academic and professional service. As Director of the UConn Polymer Program from 2018 to 2021, he expanded faculty engagement and strengthened the program’s profile. He has held leadership roles in national scientific organizations and organized more than 80 symposia around the world. His editorial work includes serving as Associate Editor of Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials.

Due to his outstanding record of research innovation, teaching, mentorship, and professional service, Dr. Luyi Sun strongly merits recognition as a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor.

Professor Anne C. Dailey, 2025 Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor

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The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor title is awarded annually following a university-wide nomination process and a rigorous review by a faculty and student committee. Final selections are approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which confirmed this year’s awardees at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Anne Dailey

Professor Anne Dailey, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Intellectual Life and the Ellen Ash Peters Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, is a nationally recognized scholar whose work bridges constitutional law, family law, and psychoanalytic theory. A member of the UConn faculty since 1988, Professor Dailey has made transformative contributions to legal scholarship, education, and public service, with far-reaching influence across disciplines and institutions.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Following law school, she completed a judicial clerkship with Judge José Cabranes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She has since become a pioneering figure in integrating psychoanalytic theory into legal analysis, most notably through her acclaimed book Law and the Unconscious: A Psychoanalytic Perspective, published by Yale University Press. This work received three prestigious honors: the Book Prize from the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Book Prize from the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis, and the Faculty Book Award from the UConn Humanities Institute.

Professor Dailey’s scholarship is widely cited and influential. Her co-authored articles The New Law of the Child and The New Parental Rights, and her sole authored In Loco Reipublicae, all published in top-tier law journals, have shaped the national discourse on children’s constitutional rights, state responsibility for families, and evolving family structures. She is a member of the American Law Institute and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and Humanities.

She has held visiting faculty appointments at Yale, Harvard, and Penn Law Schools and has been named an Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center and a Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Dailey is a dedicated and inspiring teacher of family law and constitutional law. She is also a deeply valued mentor to students and junior faculty, and her efforts have helped elevate the national profile of the UConn School of Law.

Professor Dailey’s scholarly distinction, interdisciplinary innovation, and enduring contributions to teaching and service make her a truly worthy recipient of the University of Connecticut’s highest faculty honor.

Dr. Peter Albertsen, 2025 Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor

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Peter Albertsen

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor title is awarded annually following a university-wide nomination process and a rigorous review by a faculty and student committee. Final selections are approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which confirmed this year’s awardees at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Dr. Peter C. Albertsen is a globally respected urologic oncologist whose research and leadership have transformed the understanding and management of prostate cancer. A faculty member at UConn Health since 1987, Dr. Albertsen’s work has shaped national and international treatment guidelines and spared tens of thousands of men from unnecessary surgery and radiation.

He earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Princeton University and his medical degree from Columbia University. He completed his surgical residency at Harvard and his urology training at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. He also holds a master’s degree in medical administration and preventive medicine from the University of Wisconsin.

Dr. Albertsen was among the first to use population-based data to challenge prevailing assumptions about PSA screening and prostate cancer aggressiveness. His landmark publications, including a seminal article in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), demonstrated that many prostate cancers grow slowly and do not require immediate treatment. These findings helped launch a global shift toward active surveillance, now a widely accepted standard of care. He has played key leadership roles in major trials in both the U.S. and the U.K., including serving as Chair of the Cause of Death Committee for the PLCO and ProtecT trials.

He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and editorials, with over 17,000 citations and an h-index of 63, placing him in the top tier of urologic researchers. His research has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and other leading journals, and has been supported by more than $5 million in external funding.

As UConn’s Urology Residency Program Director for over 30 years, Dr. Albertsen has trained more than 60 residents, many of whom have gone on to leadership roles in academic medicine and beyond. He is widely praised for his dynamic and discussion-based teaching style and for his long-standing mentorship of medical students and residents.

Dr. Albertsen has served in numerous leadership roles at UConn Health and nationally, including as Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Planning, Division Chief of Urology, and Trustee of the American Board of Urology. He continues to provide exceptional patient care, including to underserved and correctional populations, and is often sought out by colleagues for their own care.

His many honors include the Eugene Fuller Triennial Prostate Award and the Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Urological Association, as well as honorary membership in both the AUA and the German Urological Association. Dr. Albertsen’s research, clinical care, and mentorship have had an enduring impact on the field of urology and the lives of countless patients, making him a most deserving recipient of the University of Connecticut’s highest faculty honor.

Dr. Bruce Liang Reappointed as Dean of School of Medicine

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Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Dr. Bruce Liang to a third five-year term as Dean of the UConn School of Medicine, effective July 1, 2025. Dr. Liang has served in this role since 2015, and his continued leadership reflects the strong foundation he has built and the significant progress achieved over the past decade.

This reappointment follows a comprehensive five-year review, which included feedback from faculty, staff, university leadership, and clinical and community partners. Over the past five years, Dr. Liang has led the School of Medicine through a period of meaningful growth and advancement. He oversaw the full implementation of the MDelta curriculum, which has enriched the educational experience for students and improved outcomes. The School has also expanded its class size, exceeding the initial targets set by Bioscience Connecticut, a state investment launched in 2011 to position Connecticut as a leader in biomedical research and innovation.

Dr. Liang led the development of a Science Strategy Plan aligned with the University’s priorities, recruited exceptional faculty, and helped drive an increase in NIH funding. Collaborative partnerships with Jackson Laboratories and Connecticut Children’s have deepened, further elevating the School’s research profile.

The School has remained a vital contributor to Connecticut’s healthcare workforce, with many graduates staying in the state to practice. Its Graduate Medical Education programs have grown which now rank in the top 10% nationally. Dr. Liang has also strengthened community service programs, securing major grants, supporting the Urban Service Track, Area Health Education Center, Health Career Opportunity Program, and Office of Multicultural and Community Affairs, as well as expanding care access through clinics serving immigrants in the state.

During this term, Dr. Liang also served as Interim CEO of UConn Health, for more than two years, guiding the institution through a key leadership transition with professionalism, growth, integrity, and a clear commitment to the university’s mission.

I extend my sincere thanks to the review committee for their thoughtful and thorough work throughout this process. Their efforts helped provide a comprehensive assessment of Dr. Liang’s leadership and the School’s continued trajectory. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Liang on his reappointment and thanking him for his continued service to UConn Health and the University of Connecticut.

Sincerely,
Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President
For Academic Affairs
University of Connecticut
Office of the Provost
352 Mansfield Road, U-1086
Storrs CT 06269-1086
Tel. 860-486-4037

STUDENTS FIRST, UCONN ALWAYS, HUSKIES FOREVER. 

For updates on our university strategic plan, please visit Envisioning 2034.

Observance of Juneteenth

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Dear Colleagues,

On Thursday, June 19, the University will observe Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States were informed of their freedom. In 2023, the State of Connecticut officially recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday. This year, the University Senate passed a resolution to designate it as a non-teaching day at UConn.

As a result, classes will not be held and no instructional activities should be scheduled on that date. The University encourages all departments and offices that are able to close in observance of the holiday to do so.

We recognize that certain critical University operations and departments will need to remain open to meet student and campus needs. We encourage you to talk to your supervisor to determine department needs. However, it is our expectation that most University operations will close to observe the holiday. Questions regarding scheduling or time issues should be referred to laborrelations@uconn.edu.

We look forward to the observance of this important day.

Sincerely,

Lakeesha Brown, Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
Anne D’Alleva, Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Jeffrey Hines, Vice President, Office for Diversity and Inclusion