Prof. Thorsten Joachims, computer science and information science, was appointed to the new position of vice provost for artificial intelligence strategy on Jan. 1, according to a University press release sent on Tuesday.
The Cornell AI Initiative, which Joachims currently directs, will be expanded under the position, Provost Kavita Bala told The Cornell Chronicle. The vice provost for artificial intelligence strategy will coordinate AI efforts across the university, from furthering research to strategizing classroom use.
“With his deep knowledge and experience, Thorsten can empower and support innovation and experimentation across Cornell that advances our mission to improve lives through research, learning, public engagement and clinical care,” Bala told The Chronicle.
Created alongside the new position was the AI Strategy Council, consisting of Natalie Bazarova, associate vice provost for research; Steve Jackson, vice provost for academic innovation; Ben Maddox, chief information officer; Vinay Varughese, Weill Cornell chief information officer; and Fei Wang, Weill Cornell associate dean for AI and data science.
This council will collaborate with Joachims on AI research and work in tandem with the Cornell AI Initiative, launched in 2021, which researches and evaluates the ethical, educational, health and labor effects of new generative technology, according to its website.
“AI tools bring both important benefits and potential harms to student learning, and we’re seeing both. Our ability to navigate these dynamics artfully in the years ahead will be essential to Cornell’s thoughtful leadership in this space,” Jackson told The Chronicle.
Joachims joined the Cornell faculty in 2001 after completing his Ph.D. at the AI Unit of The University of Dortmund, where he also studied as an undergraduate. Joachims has previously served as the Interim Dean for Cornell Bowers, Associate Dean for Research and Chair of the Department of Information Science within the Cornell Bowers College of Computer and Information Science.
Joachims’ earlier research focused on support vector machines, a machine learning model. Since then, his research has primarily focused on Learning to Rank, a way of using machine learning to order results of models such as search engines, and other applications of machine learning to real-world systems.
Joachims’ appointment comes amid a recent rise in widespread AI usage that has made professors throughout the University rethink what AI looks like within their classrooms and for their respective fields.
The Committee on the Future of the American University, a collection of professors also appointed by Provost Bala, emphasized AI as part of the future of Cornell, writing in a December piece in The Sun that the University should understand the “longer historical trajectory of technological change” with regards to generative AI.
Additionally, Bala previously said in an October 2025 interview with The Sun that the University’s motto for AI usage was “‘AI on tap, not AI on top,’” and that with the use of AI, “instead of spending hours per day doing something, we have our staff taking minutes per day to do that.”
Caroline McHugh is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at cjm444@cornell.edu.
