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Amit Savkar Appointed Provost’s Special Advisor on Continuing, Professional, and Workforce Education

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Amit Savkar has been appointed Provost’s Special Advisor on Continuing, Professional, and Workforce Education. He will lead the development of a strategy to expand the reach, visibility, and impact of UConn’s offerings in this area, including microcredentials, digital badges, and other short-form non-credit learning opportunities. This work will connect UConn’s academic expertise with emerging workforce needs and expand opportunities for people to engage with the University throughout their education and careers.

Savkar brings extensive UConn experience in educational innovation and academic leadership. A professor in residence in the Department of Mathematics and director of the Quantitative Learning Center (Q Center), he previously served as interim associate vice provost and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). As a UConn Teaching Fellow, he has developed online courses and used technology and assessment to strengthen student learning. His experience also includes leading educational programming for the QuantumCT Engine, connecting his work in education with the development of Connecticut’s emerging technology workforce.

In this role, Savkar will assess the range of UConn’s existing offerings, identify strengths and opportunities for growth, and help establish a clearer, more recognizable presence for UConn in continuing, professional, and workforce education. He will engage employers, industry associations, and public agencies to understand their needs and work with academic partners to identify where UConn is well positioned to respond.

This strategy will encompass opportunities for working professionals and adult learners, as well as supplemental learning opportunities for current UConn students. It will also explore how offerings can build on one another, including through microcredentials and badges, to give learners meaningful ways to develop and demonstrate expertise.

Savkar will work closely with the Provost’s Office, Office of Continuing and Professional Education, The Graduate School, and other academic leaders across our campuses.

His work will complement the task force led by Lauren Schlesselman, Executive Director of Academic Program Assessment, and C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, which is examining how microcredentials are defined, structured, and governed at UConn. The task force’s work will inform the University’s approach to these credentials, while Savkar’s broader charge will connect educational opportunities with demand, external partnerships, and a coordinated strategy.

Update on AI for ImpaCT 

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Dear UConn Community, 

Artificial intelligence presents extraordinary opportunities, important questions, and significant uncertainty for universities and for society. 

UConn has launched AI for ImpaCT, a university-wide effort to help our community thoughtfully understand, shape, and respond to this rapidly evolving technology. As part of that work, the Provost’s Office has convened an AI Council representing faculty, staff, students, and leaders from across the University. 

I am grateful to have been asked to serve as Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence and to lead this effort. 

I have composed a more detailed message outlining the purpose of AI for ImpaCT, how the AI Council is organized, and some brief notes about what comes next. 

[Read the full message and learn more about AI for ImpaCT.] 

I look forward to working with the UConn community as this effort develops. 

Best, 

David Bergman 
Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence 

Posted in AI

Message to the Community 

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The development of AI at its current level of capability marks a remarkable technological achievement—not the product of a single discipline or a few years of work, but the culmination of decades of scientific, mathematical, and technological progress. Its capabilities invite wonder, particularly because of their potential to expand what people and institutions can accomplish.

For example, generative AI is accelerating the discovery and design of new medicines, while also offering opportunities to move toward more personalized education that better serves neurodiverse and nontraditional learners. Yet we do not know the full reach of AI, how it will evolve, or all the consequences it will have for individuals, institutions, professions, and society. We must also recognize the potential for negative impacts and work together to understand and address them.

That combination of extraordinary possibility and profound uncertainty demands careful study, open inquiry, and thoughtful judgment. Uncertainty is not a reason to disengage. It is precisely why we must approach AI with earnest inquiry—not adopt it simply because we are amazed by its capabilities, nor reject it simply because its consequences are uncertain or because we feel powerless to shape them.

Inquiry, rather than assumption, should guide how we embrace, shape, and use AI so that this technology can be applied responsibly and ethically to drive meaningful impact and advance UConn’s mission.

That is the purpose of AI for ImpaCT.

To help advance this work, the Provost’s Office convened an AI Council of faculty, staff, students, and leaders from across the University. The Council was intentionally designed to bring together individuals with diverse viewpoints, backgrounds, and areas of expertise from across UConn’s schools, colleges, campuses, disciplines, and functions.

I am grateful to have been asked to lead the Council and to serve as Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence. I take this responsibility with humility and a sincere commitment to listen, learn, work collaboratively, and help UConn navigate this moment thoughtfully.

Throughout the summer, the full Council and a smaller Executive Committee have met to begin shaping our direction. Those conversations have made clear that the work ahead is both complex and urgent, requiring humility, care, and a commitment to UConn’s future.

There are genuine differences of opinion about AI, and valid perspectives can sometimes be at odds. We do not have all the answers. Through extensive discussion and careful listening, we are working respectfully and thoughtfully to understand the challenges, navigate these differences, and identify a responsible path forward.

These conversations have also reinforced something important: this work cannot belong to a few people or a single unit. It must draw on the expertise, questions, ideas, and perspectives of the broader UConn community.

With that in mind, I want to share how we have organized our work, some of what is already underway, and what comes next.

Our Charge

The AI Council will serve as UConn’s primary university-wide consultative and coordinating body on artificial intelligence. Consistent with UConn’s commitment to shared governance, our role is not to replace the expertise or decision-making authority that resides within our schools, colleges, campuses, the University Senate, or administrative units.

Instead, we aim to connect perspectives from across the University, identify issues that cross organizational boundaries, facilitate collaboration, surface opportunities and concerns, and provide thoughtful guidance as UConn makes decisions about AI.

Our conversations have underscored the need for a coherent vision that clarifies where we want to direct our efforts and how we want to position UConn for the future. To that end, the AI Executive Committee, the full AI Council, and University leadership are developing an initial Vision and Strategic Framework for AI for ImpaCT. This document will provide a starting point for meaningful action, helping guide our focus and advance UConn’s mission while remaining open to refinement as our understanding evolves. It is being shaped by input from across our community and informed by best practices and lessons we are learning from across higher education.

Four Areas of Focus

We have organized the Council’s work around four connected domains, each led by a member of the Executive Committee. These areas are intentionally interconnected, and one of the Council’s most important roles will be to ensure that these conversations do not occur in isolation.

Responsible AI, Risk, and Community Trust — Anna Mae Duane

This area will focus on helping UConn make thoughtful and responsible choices about AI, including questions of ethics, governance, risk, fairness, human agency, transparency, and community trust.

The work will be led by Anna Mae Duane, Professor of English and Director of the UConn Humanities Institute, whose scholarship and interdisciplinary work examine culture, rights, justice, language, and the human experience.

Education, Academic Programs, and Workforce Readiness — Amit Savkar

This area will focus on what students should learn about AI, how AI should shape teaching and learning, what academic opportunities UConn should develop, and how we prepare students, faculty, and staff for an AI-enabled world.

The work will be led by Amit Savkar, Professor-in-Residence in Mathematics and Director of UConn’s Quantitative Learning Center, whose work spans mathematics education, learning innovation, student support, curriculum development, and educational outcomes.

Research, Scholarship, and Innovation — Derek Aguiar

This area will focus on both advancing research in AI itself and enabling faculty across disciplines to use AI to accelerate discovery, scholarship, and innovation.

The work will be led by Derek Aguiar, Associate Professor in UConn’s School of Computing, whose research spans probabilistic and statistical machine learning, AI, and algorithms with a focus on computational genomics and biomedical applications.

Institutional Tools, Infrastructure, and Implementation — Arash Zaghi

This area will focus on the tools, infrastructure, capabilities, and implementation approaches UConn needs to use AI effectively and responsibly at institutional scale.

The work will be led by Arash Zaghi, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, whose work brings together AI, engineering education, personalized and adaptive learning, and neurodiversity.

What Comes Next

There is much more work ahead.

We are developing a university-wide AI for ImpaCT website that will bring together information about the Council, educational opportunities, research and scholarship, guidance and resources, events, and other AI-related activity across UConn.

I am also planning open forums where students, faculty, and staff can hear directly from the Council, ask questions, raise concerns, and contribute ideas. We will have more information available soon.

Additionally, we are working toward providing access and training for the entire University community. To get us started, we worked with ITS to document the AI tools already available to our community.

Most importantly, we intend for this to be an ongoing conversation with the University community. AI is moving too quickly—and its implications for universities are too broad—for this work to happen behind closed doors. We will communicate regularly about what the Council is learning, what we are considering, what progress is being made, and where members of the UConn community can contribute.

There will be difficult questions ahead. There will also be extraordinary opportunities. UConn has the chance not simply to respond to the changes AI is creating, but to study them carefully, shape our response thoughtfully, and help determine how AI can best advance education, research, our University, and the communities we serve.

I look forward to working with all of you.

Best,

David Bergman
Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence

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A Transformative Investment in the next Chapter of UConn

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Dear Colleagues,

I am excited to share a major new investment in UConn’s future.

Over the next several years, UConn will undertake a coordinated faculty hiring initiative designed to build on our strongest areas of scholarship, create new areas of discovery, and bring additional exceptional faculty into our academic community. This program will allow us to position UConn for its next stage of growth as a world class public research institution.

The catalyst for this initiative was a series of actions by our State. Public Act 21-111 authorized an Innovation Faculty Hires and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative intended to expand UConn’s capacity for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology translation/commercialization with public and economic benefit. More recently, Special Act 25-3 asked us to chart a course toward joining an organization of the nation’s foremost research universities. The state subsequently provided funding to help us build the research capacity and scholarly impact needed to reach that level. UConn’s leadership in the new NSF Quantum Technologies Engine in Connecticut creates another opportunity to attract faculty in quantum science and technology.

Together, these investments give us the ability to recruit faculty through three connected efforts summarized below:

  • Top Tier Faculty hires will build on UConn’s areas of established and emerging excellence by recruiting nationally and internationally recognized scholars who bring new approaches to consequential questions and deepen connections across disciplines. Their expertise will extend work already underway while positioning the University to lead in important new directions.
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship Faculty hires will strengthen the path from discovery to practical application and public benefit, with an emphasis on areas that support Connecticut’s workforce, industries, and economy. This investment will build on UConn’s strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, which spans disciplines and recognizes the many ways research, scholarship, and creative activity can have an impact beyond the University.
  • The Quantum Futures Cluster will expand UConn’s position in quantum science and technology, growing our expertise in this rapidly advancing field and supporting UConn’s leadership in the NSF Engine.

These opportunities are not limited to traditionally technology-focused fields. We will support ideas from all disciplines.

This initiative is fully aligned with Envisioning 2034. Our strategic plan calls on us to advance research, innovation, and engagement by hiring and retaining outstanding faculty conducting cutting-edge work in areas of existing or emerging strength. It also calls for investment in research infrastructure, greater interdisciplinary collaboration, and stronger support for translating UConn research into benefits for Connecticut and beyond.

This initiative gives us a concrete way to act on those priorities. New faculty can expand the reach of work already underway, bring complementary expertise into our departments, spark new collaborations, and create opportunities for students. The associated investments in lab spaces, equipment, and shared research infrastructure can also support broader communities of scholars rather than individual hires alone. Over time, this added capacity will make UConn more competitive for federal, philanthropic, and industry funding; attract exceptional students and scholars from around the world; strengthen our national and international standing; and expand the impact of UConn research on lives and communities.

We are grateful to Governor Ned Lamont and the General Assembly for making these resources available and for recognizing the pivotal role UConn plays in our state and its future.

I also recognize that this announcement comes at a complicated time for us. We remain in a structural deficit, even as our financial position improves. Faculty and staff have worked within tight budgets, units have made difficult choices, and many members of our community will reasonably ask why UConn is investing in new faculty when there is more we need to do to support and retain the people already here.

The answer begins with the sources and permitted uses of the funding. The principal funds supporting these hires were provided by the state for specific purposes. Much of the funding is restricted to capital costs such as laboratories, specialized equipment, research infrastructure, and faculty startup needs. It cannot be redirected towards supplementing recurring operating expenses.

This work is also supported by a portion of the state’s recent $35 million investment in research at UConn and UConn Health. That funding was provided in response to serious disruption in federal research support and is intended to protect important work, improve our competitiveness for future funding, and help recruit and retain research talent in areas important to Connecticut.

These distinctions matter, but they do not eliminate the need for financial discipline. Every proposal will be reviewed for its academic value, strategic fit, infrastructure requirements, and long-term sustainability. Schools and colleges will need to show that they can support the ongoing costs of proposed positions before searches or offers are authorized.

More information about the initiative including procedures for submissions and future faculty positions will be posted on the faculty hiring initiative webpage. We will share updates as proposals are approved and searches begin.

Faculty are encouraged to think creatively about how these investments could build on UConn’s strengths or open new directions. I invite faculty with ideas for potential positions to bring them forward to their department heads and deans. We are especially interested in proposals that cross departmental boundaries or bring schools and colleges together in ways that would not otherwise be possible.

UConn’s financial position is improving, but our work is not finished. We must continue to make thoughtful choices as we address the structural deficit. At the same time, restraint alone will not build the research university we want UConn to become. This initiative gives us the means to invest in people and ideas, extend the work of our current community, and pursue new possibilities for UConn and Connecticut. I look forward to shaping that work together.

Sincerely,
Pamir

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

Clarifying AI Expectations in Your Courses

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Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare for the upcoming academic year, I am pleased to introduce the Executive Committee of UConn’s AI Council: Anna Mae Duane, Amit Savkar, Derek Aguiar, Arash Zaghi, and me as chair. The Executive Committee will work with the broader AI Council to help coordinate UConn’s university-wide AI efforts through AI for ImpaCT, including work related to teaching and learning, research and scholarship, academic programs, responsible AI, and infrastructure. A broader communication introducing the full AI Council and outlining our priorities and opportunities for engagement will be shared with the University community in the first few weeks of the semester.

In advance of that broader communication, there is one issue that is particularly timely as faculty finalize their courses and syllabi. In collaboration with Desmond McCaffrey from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and Michael Morrell, Chair of the University Senate Executive Committee, we have put together the following recommendations and resources to help faculty communicate clearly with students about the use of artificial intelligence in their courses. These recommendations are not intended to establish a single University-wide course AI policy; rather, they are intended to help faculty make intentional choices about AI in relation to their course learning objectives and communicate those expectations clearly to students.

There is no single AI course policy that will be appropriate for every course, student, discipline, or assignment. However, a course policy should ideally help students understand:

  • What uses of AI are permitted and what uses are not permitted, including whether expectations differ across assignments;
  • Whether any uses of AI are required and, if so, for what purposes and how to access those tools as specified within a Course Materials section; 
  • What AI tools the course requires students to purchase and use?
  • Whether and how the instructor will use AI in course design, instructional materials, feedback, assessment, communication, or other course activities.

Any use of AI should be thoughtfully connected to the course’s learning objectives. Faculty should consider where AI meaningfully enhances learning as well as where students are better served by completing work independently in order to achieve the intended learning outcomes. When AI is incorporated into a course, students should understand how its use supports what they are expected to learn. Similarly, when its use is restricted, explaining how those restrictions support the learning objectives can help students understand the purpose of the course AI policy.  

We also encourage you to consider sharing how you as an instructor are, or are not, using AI in the design, implementation and assessment of course materials. It is, of course, entirely up to the instructor how AI is used to further the teaching objectives of the course.  Best practices indicate that being transparent about the role of AI in all aspects of the course will build trust and avoid any possible misunderstandings.  Clear communication can reduce uncertainty for students and help ensure that AI is used—or intentionally not used—in ways that support learning and academic integrity. 

CETL has developed extensive resources to assist faculty. The Generative AI in Teaching and Learning page contains guidance for communicating expectations about generative AI use, instructional strategies, and opportunities for consultation, which is a great place to start. Additionally, on the Creating Your Syllabus page, faculty can find sample syllabus statements for generative AI use and full syllabus templates. 

If you have any questions or need assistance, consultation services are available from CETL.

Thank you for considering how AI relates to your courses and their learning objectives, and your expectations for students.

Sincerely,
David

David Bergman
Professor of Operations and Information Management
Associate Dean for Faculty & Research, School of Business
Provost’s Special Advisor on AI

Kun Chen Named Academic Director of UConn’s M.S. in Data Science Program

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The University of Connecticut is pleased to announce that Kun Chen, Professor of Statistics, has been named Academic Director of UConn’s M.S. in Data Science program.

Chen brings to the position an exceptional record of interdisciplinary scholarship, academic leadership, teaching, and mentorship. A professor in UConn’s Department of Statistics and a research fellow in the Center for Population Health at UConn Health, his research spans statistical learning, machine learning, optimization, health data science, bioinformatics, population health, and healthcare analytics.

An internationally recognized scholar, Chen is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. In 2024, he received the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Innovative Scholarship Award, which recognizes outstanding interdisciplinary research addressing significant challenges to knowledge, human well-being, and society. His work exemplifies the collaborative, application-focused approach that is central to UConn’s vision for data science.

As Academic Director, Chen will provide intellectual and strategic leadership for the M.S. in Data Science program. He will work across UConn’s schools and colleges to guide the program’s academic direction, strengthen its curriculum, support faculty collaboration, enhance the student experience, deepen relationships with industry and external partners, and identify new opportunities for growth and innovation.

UConn’s M.S. in Data Science is a 30-credit, career-focused graduate program offered in both an intensive, cohort-based on-campus format and a flexible online format. Drawing on faculty expertise from five schools and colleges—the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, the School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Neag School of Education—the interdisciplinary curriculum prepares students across the full data science lifecycle, including statistical analysis, computing, machine learning, data management, visualization, communication, research design, ethics, and responsible data use. The program culminates in a team-based capstone through which students work collaboratively to address consequential, real-world challenges, often in partnership with industry and organizational collaborators.

Chen’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the field. As data science and artificial intelligence rapidly converge, organizations increasingly need professionals who combine advanced analytical and AI capabilities with strong statistical foundations, ethical judgment, and deep domain expertise.

Under Chen’s leadership, the program will build on its strengths in statistics, computing, machine learning, and applied problem-solving while expanding opportunities at the intersection of data science and artificial intelligence. This next phase will strengthen connections with UConn’s growing AI research and educational ecosystem, deepen industry engagement, expand the program’s national visibility, and prepare graduates to lead in a professional landscape increasingly shaped by generative AI, advanced machine learning, and intelligent decision systems. At the same time, the program will preserve the qualities that distinguish it: its interdisciplinary structure, academic rigor, commitment to responsible practice, and focus on translating technical knowledge into meaningful real-world impact.

Chen succeeds Professor Jeremy Teitelbaum, who has served as Academic Director since 2023 and is stepping down from the role. As the program’s first dedicated director following its launch, Jeremy has led the M.S. in Data Science program through a formative period of growth and development. His leadership has helped establish the program’s academic identity, strengthen its interdisciplinary partnerships, expand enrollment, and build a strong foundation for continued success. We are sincerely grateful for Jeremy’s vision, dedication, and service, and we thank him for the lasting contributions he has made to UConn’s M.S. in Data Science program.

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

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.