Earlier this month, a select group of University of Colorado professors were honored with the first-ever President's AI Recognition Award. The awards were given in two categories, Teaching & Learning and Scholarly & Creative Work, with 20 faculty members recognized across 21 projects. Award recipients came from all four campuses of the CU system: CU Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, CU Denver, and CU Anschutz. Zhengxiong Li of CU Denver was the only recipient to appear in both categories.
At the event, CU President Todd Saliman indicated that he reviewed each of the nominations and personally selected the winners. He said, “I’ve wanted to find a way to recognize and build community around our faculty’s innovative use of AI across our campuses for a while now. I appreciate the depth, rigor and scholarly approach each of you has taken, all of which reinforce the contributions AI can bring to CU’s academic enterprise when used well.”
In addition to being CU Boulder faculty members, three of the Teaching & Learning Award winners are leaders in the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG), which launched in the spring of 2023 and now has over 4,200 members. Bobby Hodgkinson is a board member and the founder of the AI & Education subgroup. Diane Sieber also serves on the board of RMAIIG and is a co-lead of the AI Book Club, along with Teresa Nugent.
Dan Murray, founder of RMAIIG, said, “We are thrilled to celebrate this extraordinary recognition of Bobby, Diane, and Teresa by CU Boulder. Their leadership, curiosity, and commitment to advancing AI education and community impact embody exactly the kind of thoughtful innovation the future demands. We are proud that all three are active members of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group, and I'm especially proud that Bobby and Diane also serve on our board, helping strengthen the bridge between academia, industry, and the broader Colorado AI community.”
Hodgkinson, an Associate Teaching Professor in Colorado's Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences department, said, "I’m honored to receive this recognition alongside such incredible colleagues across the CU system. I’m especially excited to see CU becoming a leader in exploring how AI can meaningfully enhance learning while preparing our students for an AI-augmented future."
Sieber, Associate Professor in the Herbst Program of Engineering, Science and Society, and Nugent, Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of English, both echoed Hodgkinson’s sentiment that receiving the award is a huge honor.
Celebrating the meetings of the mind that these awards represent, Sieber shared how much she enjoys "the thoughtful interactions among our cohort of scholars." She continued, "Creating a culture of open discussion, experimentation and questioning of AI’s impacts is the key to helping university faculty, staff and students to work together in the face of rapid technological change."
Reflecting on the award ceremony, Nugent observed, “It’s exciting to learn how faculty across CU campuses are creatively integrating AI technology into their teaching. These efforts further enhance students’ knowledge of their field of study, while also providing them with hands-on experience working with AI applications.”
Nugent added, "Many of the recognized AI projects focus on cultivating students’ critical awareness of both the potential benefits and risks of AI use, which is important because students need opportunities to study, evaluate, and discuss the myriad impacts of AI throughout our world today."
Below is the list of all 20 winners of the President's AI Recognition Awards:
Teaching & Learning Awards
CU Boulder
- Bobby Hodgkinson, M.S., Smead Aerospace Engineering
- Nesrine Mansour, Ph.D., Environmental Design
- Teresa Nugent, Ph.D., English
- Diane Sieber, Ph.D., Herbst Program of Engineering, Ethics & Society
UCCS
- Kristen Walcott, Ph.D., Computer Science
- Dayna Herbert Walker, Ph.D., College of Business
CU Denver
- Zhengxiong Li, Ph.D., Computer Science and Engineering
- Robyn Mobbs, Ph.D., School of Public Affairs
CU Anschutz
- Clint Carlson, M.S., Psychiatry
- Chaitanya Puranik, Ph.D., MDS, Pediatric Dentistry
Scholarly & Creative Work Awards
CU Boulder
- William Chapman, Ph.D., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
- Kai Larsen, Ph.D., Leeds School of Business
- Esther Rolf, Ph.D., Computer Science
- Keith Ulmer, Ph.D., Physics
UCCS
- Byeong Kil Lee, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering
CU Denver
- Ersin Dincelli, Ph.D., School of Business
- Zhengxiong Li, Ph.D., Computer Science and Engineering
CU Anschutz
- Aimee Gardner, Ph.D., Surgery
- Arjun Krishnan, Ph.D., Biomedical Informatics
- Shyam Raghavan, M.D., Pathology
- Fuyong Xing, Ph.D., Biostatistics and Informatics
The writer is a board member of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG) and is married to Teresa Nugent, one of the President's AI Recognition Award winners.
