December 8, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to share that I have appointed Michael Colaresi, who currently serves as Associate Vice Provost for Data Science, to serve in a new role as Strategic Advisor to the Provost and Director of the newly established academic Hub for AI and Data Science Leadership (HAIL), effective January 1, 2026.
Building upon the strong foundation created through the Responsible Data Science (RDS) initiative and many fledgling AI efforts across Pitt, HAIL will serve as an academic convening point for AI and data science efforts and will facilitate collaboration across teaching, learning, and other academic operations. In this expanded leadership role, Mike will not only guide and coordinate University-wide work advancing Pitt as a leader in academic usage and development of AI, but he will also engage with other leaders across the institution – in research, operations, the health sciences, and infrastructure – to promote a unified strategic vision that ensures our whole campus community is prepared to responsibly and ethically lead today and into the future.
As we realize this University-wide vision for responsible and innovative AI applications, the establishment of HAIL represents a natural progression of the early successes of RDS and leverages the accomplishments of other exciting, currently disparate, AI efforts. HAIL will also fulfill the growing need for coordination of complementary expertise and experience all across campus as well as the sharing of evolving best practices. The hub will:
- Unify and strengthen existing AI- and data science-related activities across Pitt’s academic mission.
- Convene and connect researchers, practitioners, and academic units to support responsible, innovative applications of AI.
- Engage with shared governance, especially with the Senate Educational Policies Committee, the Student Admission, Aid and Affairs Committee, and the Student Government Board.
- Expand upon current RDS work, incorporating its people, resources, and commitments while broadening the scope to reflect the rapidly evolving landscape of AI and data science.
By intentionally linking and not replacing Pitt’s diverse and highly impactful AI-related initiatives—spanning learning sciences, the humanities, and practical application in areas including business, nursing, engineering, etc. —HAIL will catalyze a research-practitioner community of practice that accelerates innovation and promotes responsible, human-centered AI. While AI efforts at Pitt have appropriately grown within domain-specific contexts, the next stage of development requires a coordinated network that allows expertise in one area to strengthen the whole.
Under Mike’s leadership, this new hub will advance Pitt’s academic mission, support our students, network together faculty and staff across disciplines, and contribute meaningfully to the broader societal conversation on the responsible use and development of AI.
Please join me in congratulating Mike and in supporting this important next step for the University.
Regards,
Joe
Joseph J. McCarthy
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
William Kepler Whiteford Professor
University of Pittsburgh