Stony Brook University has announced the appointment of Lav Varshney as the inaugural director of its Artificial Intelligence Innovation Institute (AI3). Following a national search, Varshney will assume his new role on August 1 and will also hold the Della Pietra Infinity Chair. He will report to Carl W. Lejuez, executive vice president and provost.
Varshney joins Stony Brook from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His previous affiliations include computer science, neuroscience, industrial and enterprise systems engineering, digital agriculture, personalized nutrition, and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
“Lav exemplifies the ethos and vision of Stony Brook’s AI3. He is committed to working across disciplines to find actionable solutions that will have a meaningful, positive impact on society,” said Carl Lejuez. “Under his leadership, the institute will serve to empower the entire university community and beyond.”
In his new position, Varshney will build upon work initiated by over 40 faculty and staff members to develop initial plans for AI3. He aims to set research directions for AI3 while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration at Stony Brook. His leadership aligns with New York State's $250 million investment in AI through Empire AI.
Varshney's professional background spans industry, academia, government, think tanks, and national laboratories. His research interests cover artificial intelligence foundations and applications, ethics and policy; information theory; statistical signal processing; network science; technology innovation; scientific discovery; and creativity.
His past roles include visiting scholar at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and appointments at RAND Corporation and Brookhaven National Lab. Additionally, he serves as chief scientist at Ensaras and CEO/co-founder of Kocree. He has also been a White House Fellow contributing to national AI policy.
Stephen Della Pietra commented on Varshney's appointment: “We are honored to have created the Della Pietra Infinity Chair... The Infinity Chair appointment represents a newly designed, prestigious endowed position awarded to faculty whose teaching and research have markedly advanced their fields of study.”
Vincent Della Pietra added: “We are thrilled to have someone as distinguished as Lav Varshney... With a focus on groundbreaking AI research, this position is intended to spark interdisciplinary collaboration.”
Varshney has received grants from several government agencies including DARPA and NSF as well as private companies like IBM and Google. He has authored or co-authored over 300 papers in top conferences and journals.
A native of New York State with degrees from Cornell University and MIT, Varshney is recognized for his contributions across various academic societies such as IEEE.
The establishment of AI3 expands upon Stony Brook’s Institute for AI-driven Discovery established in 2018 under Steve Skeina's interim directorship during this academic year's search for an inaugural director.