MBZUAI Announces Professor Timothy Baldwin As New Provost

Professor Timothy Baldwin has recently been named the Provost of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), marking a significant milestone in the institution's journey towards academic excellence in the field of artificial intelligence. With a distinguished career in natural language processing (NLP), Professor Baldwin's contributions have been instrumental in shaping the university's trajectory over the past two years.

During his tenure at MBZUAI, Professor Baldwin has been at the forefront of several key initiatives that have greatly enhanced the university's growth and global standing. Notably, he has overseen the creation of three new academic departments: robotics, computer science, and statistics and data science. This expansion has broadened MBZUAI's academic offerings and positioned it as a comprehensive hub for AI studies.

Furthermore, Professor Baldwin's efforts in recruiting 25 new faculty members have more than doubled the university's academic strength. His leadership in securing accreditation for new M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in computer science and robotics, alongside spearheading the development of a statistics and data science department, underscores his commitment to academic rigor and innovation.

Another feather in his cap is the development of Jais, the world's leading Arabic large language model (LLM), which underscores MBZUAI's dedication to contributing to AI technologies with a global impact. Additionally, Professor Baldwin has played a pivotal role in launching the Undergraduate Research Internship Program (UGRIP), offering students unparalleled research opportunities.

Despite his administrative duties, Professor Baldwin has maintained an impressive academic record, publishing 23 papers in 2023 alone. His work has been recognized at prestigious conferences such as the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL) 2023 and *SEM 2023, further establishing him as a leading figure in NLP.

"We are confident that Professor Timothy Baldwin's leadership, dedication, and expertise will continue to propel MBZUAI to new heights of excellence. His appointment as Provost brings an exciting chapter for our university, and we look forward to the continued growth and success with his guidance," remarked Professor Eric Xing, MBZUAI’s President and University Professor.

Expressing his enthusiasm for his new role, Professor Baldwin stated, "I am delighted to formally take on this position, and work alongside the current and future generation of AI frontrunners in leading the academic development of this truly unique institution and contribute to establishing Abu Dhabi as a global leader of AI."

This appointment not only signifies a new era for MBZUAI but also reinforces Abu Dhabi's ambition to become a global AI powerhouse. Under Professor Baldwin's leadership, MBZUAI is poised for groundbreaking advancements in AI research and education.

With inputs from WAM