Michael Jordan joins MBZUAI as laureate professor

Celebrated academic and thought leader in machine learning and AI research, UC Berkeley Distinguished Professor Michael I. Jordan, has been named laureate professor at Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and honorary director of a new Laureate Faculty Program, which he will help build with MBZUAI President, Professor Eric Xing.

Jordan’s appointment brings a wealth of experience to the university, and to the country, in artificial intelligence; in the interface of computer science and statistics; and in computational biology, natural language processing, and signal processing. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a foreign member of the Royal Society. In 2016, he was cited by Science Magazine as the most influential author in computer science. And he holds an honorary doctorate from Yale University.

The Laureate Faculty Program, which Jordan will help develop, recognizes the unique and impactful contributions that globally renowned AI researchers, like Jordan, bring to the university community and the country. MBZUAI, the UAE and the region benefit from the knowledge, skills and reputation of laureate faculty in the building of a vibrant academic culture and in the transfer of knowledge into impact for the local economy and academic talent pool.

The program, which is the brainchild of MBZUAI President, Professor Eric Xing, aims to be a “unique venue for leading researchers to dive into areas of inquiry, build research teams and communities, and carry out intimate scientific exchanges without worrying about administrative burdens and lack of access to funding, computing infrastructure, and data,” Xing said.

Jordan joins as the first honorary director of the Laureate Faculty Program at a critical moment in the institution’s development. MBZUAI established the Program to recognize the unique and impactful contributions of globally renowned AI researchers who have taken up faculty positions at the university.

“Professor Jordan’s stature, both as a global academic, and as a leading mind in AI and machine learning, makes him the ideal person to lead our new Laureate Faculty Program,” MBZUAI President, Professor Eric Xing said. “With this appointment, we’re seeking to deliver maximum impact for our student body, for our institutional partners, and for the UAE.”

Jordan was one of 16 eminent faculty to be featured as part of the inaugural cohort of the MBZUAI Executive Program including faculty from MIT, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford and more. The Executive Program was one highlight among many in the university’s second year that included student successes on the global academic stage, the signing of MoUs with global institutions, and the appointment of globally known faculty.

About the Honorary Director Michael I. Jordan

Jordan was named a Neyman Lecturer and a Medallion Lecturer by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He received the IJCAI Research Excellence Award in 2016, the David E. Rumelhart Award in 2015 and the ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award in 2009. He has also received the Ulf Grenander Award in Stochastic Theory and Modeling, David E. Rumelhart Prize, ACM-AAI Allen Newell Award, and has contributed to several renowned published research papers.

Jordan is a Fellow of the Association of Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), ASA, CSS, IEEE, IMS, Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) and Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM). He holds a Ph.D. in cognitive science from the University of California in San Diego, a master’s in mathematics, from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s in science in psychology from Louisiana State University.