AI Pioneer Peter Norvig: Frontiers of Science

Frontiers of Science: Peter Norvig


Nov 13, 2024
Above: Peter Norvig. Credit: Todd Anderson

Using current AI large language models to teach the next generation of students

Peter Norvig. Credit: Todd Anderson

“I'm an AI hipster," said Peter Norvig who is known for wearing wildly patterned shirts borne of the Woodstock era. “I was doing it before it was cool, and now is our time.”

The featured speaker at the College of Science’s November 12 Frontiers of Science lecture series, Norvig was referring to the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their pioneering work on neural networks, a core part of modern AI systems. Norvig’s address targeted how educators might use current AI large language models (LLMs) to teach the next generation of students.

To explore that question, Norvig, Distinguished Education Fellow at Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute as well as a researcher at Google, discussed the evolution of AI to an audience of 200. Norvig reflected back to 2011 when he and Sebastian Thrun pivoted from teaching a traditional AI course at Stanford to an online format where 100,000 worldwide enrolled. The free class featured YouTube videos and what’s called reinforcement learning, using machine learning that helped improve student performance by 10%.

In his lecture, Norvig cited Benjamin Bloom's "two sigma problem” in learning models and emphasized the importance of mastery learning “which means you keep learning something until you get it, rather than saying, 'Well, I got a D on the test, and then tomorrow we're going to start something twice as hard.'” Norvig also emphasized the importance of personalized tutoring.

“Really, the teacher’s role is to make a connection with the student,” Norvig said, “as much as it is to impart this information. That was a main thing we learned in teaching this class.”

These massive open online classes (MOOC) led to gathering massive data sets to help him and his colleague do a better job the next time. In “2024,” he said bringing us up-to-date, “we should be able to do more. And my motto now is we want to have an automated tutor for every learner and an automated teaching assistant for every teacher.”

But the objective for him is always the same: “I want the teachers to be more effective, to be able to do more, be able to connect more with the students, because that personal connection is what's important.”

Language, says Norvig, is humankind’s greatest technology, but “somehow we took this shortcut [in developing AI] of just saying, let's just [take] everything that mankind knows that's been written on the internet and dump it in. That's great. It does a lot of good stuff. There are other cases where we really want better quality, really want to differentiate what's the good stuff and what's not, and that's something we have to work on.”

Norvig acknowledges the challenge of obtaining necessary data to develop accurate student models. Unlike, for example, self-driving automobiles, which uses the data obtained through real-world-miles driven and repeating simulations of miles driven. He cited foundational work by the economist John Horton who is running experiments on computers using “agents” that duplicate a complex set of interactions between each other based on real-world experiments. “I think there's some kind of hope that we could do that kind of thing and have models of students that would tell us something,” he says. “We'd still have to verify that against the real world, but I think this would help a lot, because right now … we've [already] shown we can do 10% better” with student success averages.

There is no doubt that challenges will persist with improving and sufficiently complicating AI-generated content to be more helpful and humane when it comes to educating the next generation. In the context of LLMs, the “open world problem” refers to a scenario where the LLM needs to operate in an environment with incomplete or constantly changing information, requiring it to reason and make decisions without having all the necessary details upfront. It’s much like navigating a real-world situation with unknown variables and potential surprises.

The “open world problem” can’t be solved by traditional pre-programming of coders. There is something in between LLM’s “big empty box”—where you can ask anything you want, go in any direction— and top-down control of a MOOC where everyone ends up attempting to learn in the same way and doing the same thing. “We want the teacher to say, I'm going to guide you on this path, and we're going to get to a body of knowledge, but along the way, we're going to follow diversions that the students are interested in, and every student is going to be a little bit different.” Until the past two years, said Norvig, we never had any technology that could do that, and that “now maybe we do.”

Not only do we need to get AI right, Norvig continued, we need to ask, what does that mean? What is education? Who is it for? When do we do it? Where do we do it?

“The main idea is getting across this general … body of knowledge. But then there's also specific knowledge or skills. … Some of it is about reasoning and judgment that's independent of the knowledge. Some of it is about just getting people motivated … Some of it is about civic and social coherence, being together with other people and working together, mixing our society together.”

It’s a tall order for AI engineers, teachers and students.

For Norvig, the long game is underwritten by the importance of understanding long-term educational goals and balancing AI's benefits with human connections. It’s nothing short of redefining what an education means.

In the 80s, he says, it was about algorithms telling us things; in the “oughts” it was about the showing of big data; and now in the 20s it has turned to the philosophical:  What do we need and what do we want in our real and AI world to prepare students for the future and, once they enter the workforce, to distinguish tasks and jobs. (Changing the mix of tasks, he says, will undoubtedly continue.) What technology do we want to invest in and how will it impact employment?

In his presentation, Norvig engagingly careened from big scale to micro-scale almost in the same sentence, but it’s what the sector is being asked to do at this inflection point in AI technology: mixing the technological with the philosophical, asking hard questions, and thinking inside and without that “open box.”

Fortunately, in the good professor/director of “human-centered AI,” we have a guide and a cheerleader. Not only are his wildly printed shirts easy on the eye, but, the audience was told in the evening’s introduction that he founded the ultimate frisbee club at Berkeley when he was a graduate student.

For Peter Norvig, the self-described “AI hipster,” he’s clearly known for a long while what was cool, “before it was cool.”

 

 

Frontiers of Science is the longest continuously running lecture series at the University of Utah, established in 1967 by U alumnus and physics professor Peter Gibbs. 

by David Pace

 

Celebrating Veterans Day

CElebrating our Veterans


November 11, 2024

Above: Chad Ostrander (left) and Brandon Mowes

In their own words: a geology and geophysics professor and a chemistry alumnus are recognized on 2024 Veterans Day

Chad Ostrander

Chad Ostrander, left top row, a U assistant professor of geology, deployed with the Marines in Operation Enduring Freedom. He served with an Air Force unit pictured here at Al Udeid Air Force Base in Doha, Qatar in 2010.

“I was born in southern Oregon, in a high-desert town just north of the California border called Klamath Falls. My maternal grandpa was the father figure in my life growing up, and he was an Air Force veteran. His duty station at the time of his retirement was Kingsley Field, a small base in that town where he would plant his post-military roots. Military service was always ingrained in me as a sort of rite of passage. Generations before me on maternal and paternal sides had served their country.

I was in eighth grade when I watched the towers fall on Sept. 11. My whole high school career in Klamath Falls I saw men leave for service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some didn’t come back. College was never an option for me at that time; I grew up really, really poor. Even the local community college was a financial impossibility. The day after I graduated, I moved to southern Arizona to work as a pipe-layer for a sewer- and water-line construction company.

After my job as a pipe-layer and a stint as an old-West reenactor in Tombstone, I moved back to Oregon in the summer of 2007 to work as a dock hand at Crater Lake National Park. It was from here that I decided to join the military. I called the local Marine recruiter during “the surge,” when all military branches were ballooning in size to support the two wars.

I liked that the Marines didn’t promise me anything. You could have gotten tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses to join the Air Force, Army or Navy. When I joined the Marines they gave me a free one-way ticket to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. I was stationed in Barstow, Calif. for my entire 5-year enlistment. In the summer of 2010, I was offered an Individual Augment billet through Marine Forces Central, to deploy to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. That was very important to me. I would have felt my service was missing a critical component if I didn’t deploy overseas at a time of war.

I cherish my time in the Marines. One of my best life decisions was to join the Corps. But one of my best life decisions was also to exit the Corps. I wanted to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill to do something that seemed impossible just a few years before: go to college. During the final year of my enlistment, I started reading books about science. I started with Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, and eventually made my way, painstakingly, through Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. I was fascinated with the origin and evolution of life on Earth. In 2012, I enrolled at Arizona State University as an astrobiology major.

The Marines taught me to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Don’t be adverse to adversity. Nothing is handed to you in this life. The only thing you should ever ask for is an opportunity. If you want something, go get it.”

Chad Ostrander, an assistant professor of geology and geophysics, U.S. Marine Corps veteran

Ostrander served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2007 to 2012. He reached the rank of sergeant and was deployed to Qatar in 2010. He and his wife live in Salt Lake City with their son and daughter, ages 5 and 8. As an assistant professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Geology & Geophysics, his research examines stable isotopes to shed light on how Earth’s atmosphere and oceans were oxygenated 2.2 billion years ago.

 

Brandon Mowes

Mowes, on the field, receiving his award at the U vs BYU game, Nov. 9, 2024

The 2024 Student Veteran of the Year was awarded to Brandon Mowes at the yearly Veterans Day Commemoration event on Nov. 15.

Mowes utilizes his nine years of United States Navy experience as his catalyst to strive for academic excellence and is someone who exudes qualities of servant leadership.

While in the Navy, Mowes was attached to the Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, SC where he endured a fast-paced and challenging nuclear training course consisting of calculus and physics. While not an implicit responsibility of being the class leader, he made it his goal to ensure everyone in his section had the best opportunity to succeed in the program. This goal resulted in Mowes spending substantial time helping other students find ways to better understand the material. His selflessness continued throughout each training program, leading to many students reaching their goals. This act of servant leadership did not go unnoticed.

Following his training, Mowes was offered a position to remain at the training site as an instructor. Jumping at the opportunity, he became an instructor for two years. He instructed approximately 320 sailors in general chemistry and radiological controls, with about 60 being further instructed on in-depth theory and practical application in these controls. The in-depth training portion included standing watch on the systems associated with a working nuclear reactor that was built in 1979 by monitoring, sampling, and correcting chemistry and responding to “incidents” that occur throughout the engine room. Through this experience, he absolutely fell in love with the science behind the reactors and knew this was the field he wanted to pursue.

In 2020, as classes and offices reopened after the pandemic, Brandon discovered the Veterans Support Center, VSC, and inquired about an open work-study position.

“Working at the VSC started to make me feel like I was still contributing to something important by helping all of our military-connected students on campus through support in the VSC and at various events. Seeing the effect that we have on these students at some of their most stressful times is beyond words,” he said.

Brandon graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 2023 with plans to continue at the U for his graduate degree. During the fall semester of that year, he was accepted into the Nuclear Engineering Ph.D. Program as a Research Fellow where he is conducting research on the forensic use of isotopes found in nuclear material in antiproliferation efforts to eventually reduce the security threat that nuclear materials pose to the world, minimizing the effort needed from our armed forces.

As Brandon continues his Ph.D. program, he remains a member of the VSC team as their office assistant. Between helping students in the office, advancing academically, or seeing him during Veterans Week activities behind his “combat camera”, his impact to the military-connected student community and the University of Utah is priceless.

 

Remembering Glenda Woods

Remembering Glenda Woods


November 07, 2024

A Legacy of Excellence and Kindness in the College of Science

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Glenda Lee Tolman Woods on October 31, 2024, surrounded by her loving family and friends. Services were held Tuesday, November 12, at Broomhead Funeral Home.

For more than three decades, Glenda Woods was a cornerstone of the University of Utah community, dedicating 36 years of service to the institution, with nearly 30 of those years in the College of Science Dean's Office until her retirement in 2015. Her impact on the college was profound and lasting.

As a distinguished administrator, Glenda set the highest standards of professionalism and punctuality, leading always by example. Her attention to detail was legendary—she maintained impeccable records and was known for her unwavering commitment to perfection, never letting even a single spelling error slip by. Perhaps most remarkably, she knew every faculty and staff member in the entire College by name, fostering personal connections with hundreds of colleagues throughout her tenure.

What truly set Glenda apart was not just her professional excellence, but her extraordinary character. She approached every interaction with kindness, grace, and generosity. Never one to raise her voice or criticize harshly, she treated her staff as family members, creating a warm and supportive work environment that inspired loyalty and dedication.

Throughout her career, Glenda earned several prestigious recognitions, including the University of Utah Presidential Staff Award in 1995—one of only four recipients that year. She completed the University's Management Certificate Program in 2000 and received the Certificate of Honor for 30 years of service in 2009.

Her legacy at the University of Utah extends far beyond her numerous accolades. She will be remembered as a mentor, friend, and exemplary leader who touched countless lives through her work and character.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests considering a donation to the College of Science ACCESS Scholars program. This initiative, which supports first-year students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines through community building, research opportunities, and scholarships, would honor Glenda's lifelong commitment to supporting excellence in education. To make a contribution, visit the ACCESS giving page.

For further details about Glenda's life and legacy, please see her full obituary.

A Tribute to Frank Stenger

A Tribute to Frank Stenger


November 05, 2024

Frank Stenger, a Kahlert School of Computing emeritus faculty member, passed away on October 23, 2024.

Frank spent 20 years teaching and conducting research in the Kahlert School of Computing, prior to joining the School he spent 20 years as a professor in the Department of Mathematics here at the University of Utah.  He received an undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of Alberta (Engineering–Physics, with emphasis on Electrical Engineering), continuing at the University of Alberta he received Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering (Servomechanisms) and in Mathematics (Numerical Analysis), and a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Computational Asymptotics).

During his lifelong career, he produced a large body of original research in the development of algorithms, in areas “less traveled on” by other researchers, such as computational approximation, solution of nonlinear equations, Sinc methods; these yield novel methods for solving partial differential and integral equations.  He also developed algorithms for non-destructive viewing of a part of a human being, and for determining whether the vote count at a voting center is fraudulent. He was an extremely productive scholar, publishing more than 200 papers and multiple books.  Frank also lectured in over 20 different countries.

Frank was born in Hungary, and after WWII, he lived in East Germany, then in West Germany, then in Canada, finally landing in the United States after completion of his course studies.

There will be a celebration of Frank’s life on November 23, 2024.

https://users.cs.utah.edu/~stenger/

https://users.cs.utah.edu/~stenger/history.pdf

This story originally appeared on the School of Computing website.

Priyam Patel’s innovative teaching methods recognized

Priyam Patel's innovative teaching methods recognized


Oct 21, 2024
Above: Priyam Patel, Associate Professor.

Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics Priyam Patel, has been honored with the University of Utah Early Career Teaching Award 2024.

Patel is noted for her innovative and impactful teaching, including active learning strategies and creating a classroom that is welcoming and respectful to all students.  One student wrote, “One notable aspect of Patel’s teaching approach is her use of mastery-based grading for homework assignments. This approach, coupled with metacognitive exercises, demonstrates her dedication to teaching students not only what to learn but also how to learn.”  Another pointed out that she “cared about every student’s success,” while yet another praised her with “my goal is to become a professor like her.”

Patel’s teaching philosophy “emphasizes the creation of an active classroom, one in which students are directly involved in the learning process.”  She believes “it is important for students to individually discover how and why the mathematical methods they apply actually work,” and continually strives to “improve [her] teaching strategies to … ensure that all of [her] students can thrive as mathematicians in the classroom and beyond.”

Patel’s research lies in the fields of low-dimensional topology, hyperbolic geometry, and geometric group theory.  Geometry and topology are fields of mathematics focused on understanding the shapes of spaces.  Geometry focuses on rigid objects where there is a notion of distance, while topological objects are more fluid.  Geometric group theory is a related field of mathematics studying finitely generated groups via the connection between algebraic properties of such groups and geometric properties of spaces on which these groups act.  Her research program can be divided into three main categories:  quantitative questions in hyperbolic geometry, the combinatorics of 3-manifolds, and the symmetries of infinite-type surfaces.

by Angie Gardiner

This story originally appeared on the mathematics department website 

New models shed light on sea ice dynamics

New models shed light on sea ice dynamics


Oct 1, 2024
Above: An upside-down sea ice slab showcasing brine channels that facilitate the drainage of liquid brine and support convection along the interface. CREDIT: Ken Golden, University of Utah.

Polar sea ice is ever-changing. It shrinks, expands, moves, breaks apart, reforms in response to changing seasons, and rapid climate change.

It is far from a homogenous layer of frozen water on the ocean’s surface, but rather a dynamic mix of water and ice, as well as minute pockets of air and brine encased in the ice.

New research led by University of Utah mathematicians and climate scientists is generating fresh models for understanding two critical processes in the sea ice system that have profound influences on global climate: the flux of heat through sea ice, thermally linking the ocean and atmosphere, and the dynamics of the marginal ice zone, or MIZ, a serpentine region of the Arctic sea ice cover that separates dense pack ice from open ocean.

In the last four decades since satellite imagery became widely available, the width of the MIZ has grown by 40% and its northern edge has migrated 1,600 kilometers northward, according to Court Strong, a professor of atmospheric sciences.

A tale of two studies, one north and one south

Ice covering both polar regions has sharply receded in recent decades thanks to human-driven global warming. Its disappearance is also driving a feed-back loop where more of the sun energy’s is absorbed by the open ocean, rather than getting reflected back to space by ice cover.

Utah mathematics professors Elena Cherkaev and Ken Golden, a leading sea ice researcher, are authors on both studies. The Arctic study led by Strong examines the macrostructures of sea ice, while the Antarctic study, led by former Utah postdoctoral researcher Noa Kraitzman, gets into its micro-scale aspects.

Read the full article by Brian Maffly in @TheU.

U student Muskan Walia now holds a leadership role in USHE Board

U student: Muskan Walia now holds a leadership role in USHE Board


September 17, 2024
Above: Muskan Walia, current student majoring in in mathematics and philosophy.

Muskan Walia didn’t intend to become a student leader when she started attending the University of Utah in 2020; she just really didn’t want to pay for printing.

Now, she’s the 2024-25 student member of the Utah System of Higher Education Board. 

“Our state has a great opportunity right now to be a leader in higher education policy,” Walia said. “As a current student, I am excited and grateful to work with students across Utah to bring our perspective into the conversation.”

A senior at the U, Walia has extensive leadership experience—including more than two years on the University of Utah’s student senate and two years as a Presidential Intern in Higher Education Leadership at the U.

“Muskan has a rare combination of modesty and confidence, in addition to the ability to listen to others and get things done,” said Frederick R. Adler, director of the U’s School of Biological Sciences and a mentor to Walia. “Beyond her intellect, passion for justice, and self-confidence, she has an extraordinary sense of humor that brings real joy to her work. That humor is very much part of her ability to see the world from different perspectives and to engage with others.”

While in the ASUU Senate, Walia served as treasurer and chair. Through her involvement, she’s found her passion and developed as a leader, but it might never have happened if she hadn’t wanted a solution to her printing problems.

Read the full story by Matilyn Mortensen in @TheU.

New bioinformatics major

New bioinformatics major opens doors to thriving careers


August 28, 2024

Beginning fall 2024, the degree provides rigorous interdisciplinary training to help graduates thrive in rapidly growing sectors.

Tommaso De Fernex, Chair of the Department of Mathematics. Credit: Todd Anderson

Tommaso De Fernex, chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah, has announced a new bioinformatics bachelor's degree (BS) available beginning fall semester 2024. The degree provides rigorous interdisciplinary training to help graduates thrive in rapidly growing sectors.

At the nexus of data science and life and physical sciences, bioinformatics applies intensive computational methods to analyze and understand complex biological information related to health, biotechnology, genomics and more. Through a comprehensive curriculum, undergraduates at the U will gain expertise in a variety of areas that together form an inter-disciplinary, multi-semester laboratory with rich possibilities.

“This major represents a pivotal step in keeping our students at the forefront of biotechnology,” says De Fernex. “It embodies true interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing expertise from biology, chemistry, and computer science faculties. I'm grateful for the dedication of our faculty in developing this program and for our strong partnerships with the medical campus and Utah's thriving biotechnology sector.”

 The complexity of life

Another math professor at the U, Fred Adler, agrees. The “study of life” is decidedly complex, says Adler who has joint faculty appointments in biology and mathematics and is currently director of the U’s School of Biological Sciences. “Unraveling that complexity means combining the tools developed in the last century: ability to visualize and measure huge numbers of tiny things that used to be invisible, technology to store and analyze vast quantities of data, and the fundamental biological and mathematical knowledge to make sense of it all.”

Continues Adler: “A few years ago, we heard that biology is the science of the 21st century. But with all the excitement and innovation in AI and machine learning, it might seem that this prediction was premature. We think nothing could be further from the truth.” Clearly, with the advent of biostatistical modeling, machine learning for genetics, biological data mining, computer programming and computational techniques for biomedical research, he said, “the preeminent role of biology in the sciences” has arrived.

A busy intersection

Bioinformatics is a field that intersects virtually every STEM discipline, developing and utilizing methods and software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Mathematics, (including statistics), biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and programming and information engineering all constellate to analyze and interpret biological data. The subsequent process of analyzing and interpreting data is referred to as computational biology.

Historically, bioinformatics and computational biology have involved the analysis of biological data, particularly DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. The field experienced explosive growth starting in the mid-1990s, driven largely by the Human Genome Project and by rapid advances in DNA sequencing technology, including at the U.

The new bioinformatics bachelor’s degree also complements the University’s storied graduate program in biomedical informatics, run by the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the Spencer Fox School of Medicine.

High-growth career field

The field of bioinformatics is experiencing rapid growth, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting a 15% increase in related jobs over the next decade, outpacing many other occupations. Graduates with a bioinformatics degree can expect to find opportunities in diverse sectors, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and research institutions. The interdisciplinary nature of this degree equips students with a unique skill set that combines biological knowledge with computational expertise. This blend of skills is increasingly valuable in today's data-driven economy, opening doors to a wide range of career paths and translating into higher earning potential for bioinformatics graduates.

"Students with quantitative expertise, like that offered in the new bioinformatics degree, are in high demand in the life sciences industry," says Peter Trapa, dean of the College of Science. "Recent data on U graduates highlights strong job placement and impressive salaries for graduates with such skills. This degree is designed to prepare students for success in these thriving job markets."

What students can expect

As a bioinformatics major, a student will learn from and collaborate with faculty pushing the boundaries of genomics, systems biology, biomedical informatics and more. Other universities and colleges offer a similar degree, but advantages to the U’s bioinformatics major include the following:

  • Hands-on research experiences in a student’s first year through the College’s celebrated Science Research Initiative
  • Core mathematical foundations through the renowned Department of Mathematics
  • Access to an R1 university with nationally ranked biomedical, health sciences and genomics programs
  • Internship opportunities with industry partners
  • Advisory support and career coaching

Concludes De Fernex, “Our bioinformatics curriculum promises a challenging yet immensely rewarding journey, equipping students for high-paying careers or further advanced studies. In today's world, where science and medicine increasingly rely on big data analysis, bioinformatics stands as a frontier of discovery.”

Students can learn more about the new bioinformatics major by visiting http://math.utah.edu/bioinformatics.

By David Pace

Those with the biggest biases choose first

How our biases are reflected in how fast we make decisions


August 13, 2024

Quick decisions more likely flow from biases, while people who take longer make better decisions, according to study led by Utah mathematicians.

Quick decisions are more likely influenced by initial biases, resulting in faulty conclusions, while decisions that take time are more likely the result in better information, according to new research led by applied mathematicians at the University of Utah.

A team that included Sean Lawley, an associate professor of mathematics, and three former or current Utah graduate students used the power of numbers to test a decision-making model long used in psychology.

They developed a framework to study the decision-making processes in groups of people holding various levels of bias.

“In large populations, what we see is that slow deciders are making more accurate decisions,” said lead author Samantha Linn, a graduate student in mathematics. “One way to explain that is that they’re taking more time to accumulate more evidence, and they’re getting a complete picture of everything they could possibly understand about the decision before they make it.”

The findings were reported this week in the journal Physical Review E.

The researchers explored how initial biases of individuals, or “agents,” in a group affect the order and accuracy of their choices. The goal was to determine whether a decision was driven mainly by an agent’s predisposition as opposed to accumulated evidence.

They found, in short, the faster the decision was made, the less informed it was and more likely to be wrong.

“Their decisions align with their initial bias, regardless of the underlying truth. In contrast, agents who decide last make decisions as if they were initially unbiased, and hence make better choices,” the study states. “Our analysis shows how bias, information quality, and decision order interact in non-trivial ways to determine the reliability of decisions in a group.”

Read the full story by Brian Maffly in @TheU.

The College of Science Welcomes New Faculty Fellows

THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE WELCOMES NEW FACULTY FELLOWS


June 6, 2024
Above:  Crocker Science Center

Geologist and mathematician to serve during the coming academic year.

The College of Science welcomes Associate Professor Lauren Birgenheier and Professor Akil Narayan as its inaugural class of Faculty Fellows. By working closely with colleagues on key projects, the new Fellows Program is designed to develop emerging academic leaders who are interested in learning more about college administration.

Lauren Birgenheier

Birgenheier is a sedimentary geologist and geochemist. Her research studies fluvial, shallow marine and lacustrine systems, shedding light on the processes that shaped our planet's past with a view toward implications for energy development, critical mineral exploration, carbon storage and paleoclimate reconstruction. Previously, Birgenheier served as Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Chair for the Department of Geology & Geophysics.

Akil Narayan

Narayan is an applied mathematician specializing in numerical analysis. As a member of the University of Utah's Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute, his broad research agenda at the forefront of computational innovation includes machine learning, model reduction and uncertainty quantification, among others. Narayan has previously held many departmental and university roles, including serving on an Academic Senate subcommittee and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Department of Mathematics.

"Lauren and Akil are exceptional scholars and leaders," said Dean Peter Trapa. "Their diverse expertise, coupled with their commitment to excellence, will be put to good use in these new Faculty Fellow roles.  I look forward to working with them both."