Jesse Spencer-Smith

AdvancED spent it's first official year leveraging the collaborative potential of three university functions: online and lifelong learning, pedagogical support and educational technology. Look back at 2024's successes and milestones. Read More

Vanderbilt Residential Colleges announces a new faculty head of Sutherland House on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. Jesse Spencer-Smith, interim director and chief data scientist at the Data Science Institute and professor of the practice of computer science, will assume the role of faculty head beginning Jan. 1, 2025. He will succeed Chezare Warren, associate professor of equity and inclusion in education policy in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations, who has served as faculty head since 2021. Read More

To address the complexities AI poses to the nation’s economy and security, Vanderbilt University experts retired Gen. Paul Nakasone, founding director of Vanderbilt’s Institute of National Security, and Jesse Spencer-Smith, interim director of the Data Science Institute, shared crucial insights with a bipartisan group of congressional staff on Capitol Hill. Read More

In May 2023, Vanderbilt University Professor Jules White released his first generative AI online course using the Coursera platform: Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT. In the next 18 months, the university’s partnership with Coursera expanded significantly, and Vanderbilt added 13 more courses and seven “specializations.” Professor Jules White interviews Shawn Keen… Read More

Hunting for black holes sounds like the premise of a new Hollywood blockbuster, but at Vanderbilt University, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Karan Jani works with students in a lab to do exactly that. Last year, Jani’s group at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, along with the university’s Data Science Institute, jointly launched the AI for New Messengers postdoctoral fellowship. The fellowship, one of the first of its kind in the U.S., seeks to apply AI techniques to analyze data from cosmic events (such as black hole collisions) using information from the Nobel Prize–winning Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment. Read More

The Computing Catalyst Working Group will identify computing resources needed to catalyze a new wave of discovery and innovation powered by AI and computing at Vanderbilt.  Read More

Vanderbilt is leading the charge on what AI can do for teaching and learning in higher education. Read More

Vanderbilt and the Data Science Institute announce the university’s first ever AI Training Day. This daylong event, scheduled for March 5, is open to the public and offers something for everyone who wants to learn more about artificial intelligence. Participants will explore modern training methods and architectural models in AI and ensure that they are up to date in this rapidly evolving landscape. For faculty and students that will be teaching AI models or using AI models in their classroom or research, this event offers essential information. Read More

Alumni wrote in to tell us about their favorite professors. Read More

In just over a year, generative AI has emerged from a niche curiosity to a driving force in many of Vanderbilt’s classrooms. The Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Education has launched several resources and programs related to generative AI, including an updated academic affairs policy, an online resource hub, a new teaching award and a pilot program for a secure, proprietary alternative to ChatGPT. These updates reflect AI becoming an established tool in classrooms and labs across the campus and give faculty ways to help equip students to best use generative AI for new lines of inquiry and scholarship.  Read More

Vanderbilt University has created the Future of Learning and Generative AI Initiative and appointed members of an advisory board. Both will center their efforts around scholarship and opportunities connected to the growing use of nascent artificial intelligence technologies.  Read More

Faculty interested in leveraging the latest developments in large language models to enhance their teaching are invited to apply for free assistance from the Data Science for Social Good Fellows. An information session, “Using ChatGPT in Teaching: Generative AI and Prompt Engineering for Education,” will be on Tuesday, April 25, at 4 p.m.; faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. Read More

Biomedical researchers with expertise in data science will discuss the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on biomedical research, how it is being used for new and paradigm-shifting discoveries, as well as ethical concerns on Tuesday, May 24, from noon to 1 p.m. CT. Read More

Partnering with the Data Science Institute, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Director Rosevelt Noble is leveraging custom artificial intelligence techniques to identify common themes and topics for his book, "Lost in the Ivy," about the experience of African Americans at Vanderbilt. Read More

Kelly Aldrich to lead year-long project modeling trends of hospital PPE. Read More

The Master’s in Data Science program introduced two awards during the 2020-21 academic year. These awards serve to recognize excellence in teaching and exceptional teaching assistants. Read More

Alumni Charleson and Charreau Bell are siblings, business partners, innovators and entrepreneurs, as well as emblematic of the culture of innovation at Vanderbilt's Wond’ry and Data Science Institute. Read More

Vanderbilt's Data Science Institute has developed short- and long-term readiness models specific to the needs of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to address COVID-19's impact on policies and procedures, better preparing the hospital to provide the best care for patients. Read More