ΑΙhub.org
 

2020-2021 Leshner fellows to engage public on artificial intelligence


by
18 February 2020



share this:
Images courtesy of those pictured and AAAS

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced the selection of 12 researchers in the area of artificial intelligence as the 2020-2021 AAAS Alan I. Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellows. These scientists and engineers were chosen for “having demonstrated leadership and excellence in their research careers and an interest in promoting meaningful dialogue between science and society”.

The 2020-2021 AAAS Leshner Fellows are (full bios are available on the AAAS website):

  • Omalabake Adenle
    Director, AJA.LA Studios
  • Benjamin Grewe
    Professor of systems circuits and neuroinformatics, ETH Zurich
  • Michael Littman
    Professor of computer science and co-director of Humanity-Centered Robotics Initiative, Brown University. Michael is also a trustee for AIhub.
  • Heather Lynch
    IACS endowed chair for ecology & evolution, Stony Brook University
  • Nicholas Mattei
    Assistant professor of computer science, Tulane University
  • Anita Nikolich
    Research professor, director of the Advanced Computational Thinking Center, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Carolyn Rose
    Professor of computer science, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Brian Scassellati
    A. Bartlett Giamatti professor of computer science, cognitive science, and mechanical engineering, Yale University
  • William Smart
    Professor in the Robotics Program at Oregon State University
  • Biplav Srivastava
    Distinguished data scientist and master inventor, IBM Chief Analytics Office
  • Lyle Ungar
    Professor of computer and information science, University of Pennsylvania
  • John Zimmerman
    Tang Family professor of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction, Carnegie Mellon University

The fellows’ public engagement interests and approaches are as diverse as their research, and include online blogs, videos and discussions as well as traditional media, social media, podcasts, books, policy engagement, outreach and public science events and competitions. In addition to engaging the public in discussions about their research, they will promote public engagement among their scientific colleagues and within their institutions.

The AAAS Leshner Fellows program is in its fifth year and is part of the organization’s commitment to science communication and public engagement. The Leshner Leadership Institute was established in 2015 through philanthropic support. The Institute is managed by the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology, established in 2004 by Alan I. Leshner, now chief executive officer emeritus of AAAS.

Read more about the 2020-2021 Leshner programme here.




Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for AIhub.
Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for AIhub.

            AUAI is supported by:



Subscribe to AIhub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

Interview with Deepika Vemuri: interpretability and concept-based learning

  24 Apr 2026
Find out more about Deepika's research bridging the gap between data-driven models and symbolic learning.

As a ‘book scientist’ I work with microscopes, imaging technologies and AI to preserve ancient texts

  23 Apr 2026
Using an array of technologies to recover, understand and preserve many valuable ancient texts.

Sony AI table tennis robot outplays elite human players

  22 Apr 2026
New robot and AI system has beaten professional and elite table tennis players.

Causal models for decision systems: an interview with Matteo Ceriscioli

  21 Apr 2026
How can we integrate causal knowledge into agents or decision systems to make them more reliable?

A model for defect identification in materials

  20 Apr 2026
A new model measures defects that can be leveraged to improve materials’ mechanical strength, heat transfer, and energy-conversion efficiency.

‘Probably’ doesn’t mean the same thing to your AI as it does to you

  17 Apr 2026
Are you sure you and the AI chatbot you’re using are on the same page about probabilities?

Interview with Xinwei Song: strategic interactions in networked multi-agent systems

  16 Apr 2026
Xinwei Song tells us about her research using algorithmic game theory and multi-agent reinforcement learning.

2026 AI Index Report released

  15 Apr 2026
Find out what the ninth edition of the report, which was published on 13 April, says about trends in AI.



AUAI is supported by:







Subscribe to AIhub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.02 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence