Tom Mitchell, a professor of machine learning and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named interim dean of the School of Computer Science.
He will take the reins from the school’s current dean, Andrew Moore, who announced in August that he would step down to return to the private sector. Mr. Moore will be leading AI efforts for Google Cloud, beginning in January.
An expert in machine learning — a branch of artificial intelligence that creates systems capable of learning from data, identifying patterns and making decisions -— Mr. Mitchell co-founded CMU’s Center for Automated Learning and Discovery, which would later become the machine learning department in 2006.
He led the department, which offered the first-ever Ph.D. program in machine learning, until 2016.
Mr. Mitchell’s research has included statistical learning algorithms and their applications, like how computers can understand natural language. Recently, he’s begun studying how machine learning and other automated technologies will affect the future of jobs.
“As a leading scholar in machine learning and artificial intelligence, Tom Mitchell has been one of the School of Computer Science’s most extraordinary founders and pioneers for the past several decades,” President Farnam Jahanian said in a prepared statement.
“He has the profound respect of the entire Carnegie Mellon community and a record of leadership that will make him an excellent interim dean. I am grateful for his willingness to serve the school and the university at this important time.”
Carnegie Mellon will continue its nationwide search for a permanent dean.
Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG.
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First Published: October 2, 2018, 3:24 p.m.
