Thanks to a $1 million gift from the Fletcher Jones Foundation to the University of La Verne, school officials Monday said they plan to create an endowed professorship in artificial intelligence.
“The new Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor for Artificial Intelligence will help the university expand its academic offerings in AI and cybersecurity, with the goal of growing our diverse pipeline of graduates in these in-demand fields,” University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman said.
Current demand for people trained in AI and cybersecurity far outpaces the number of candidates available for companies to hire, according to Seta Whitby, chair of the university’s Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering.
The Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering currently offers a concentration in artificial intelligence and a certificate in cybersecurity. Whitby said the AI concentration is the first to be offered in Southern California at the bachelor of science level.
A nationwide search for a full-time endowed professor in AI will begin this spring.
This is the third faculty position within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of La Verne to be endowed by the Fletcher Jones Foundation. Previous awards support an endowed chair in computational biology and an endowed professor in biology.
Proceeds from each endowment support a portion of the salary for the designated faculty member and allow the university to attract and retain top experts in the fields, according to university officials.