UAE's AI university appoints new President

The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi, a graduate-level, research-based university specializing in AI, announced today that it has appointed world-class computer science don Professor Dr. Eric Xing as President.

Professor Dr. Xing is ranked the top CS/AI researcher in the world and has authored or contributed to more than 370 research papers and reports. He joins MBZUAI from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in the US, where he served as Associate Department Head of Research at the Machine Learning Department.

He is the Founding Director of the CMU/UPMC Center for Machine Learning and Health, and a founder of Petuum, an AI software platform that allows enterprises to design, build, and operate their own AI solutions. Petuum has raised over $120 million funding since 2016 and was named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer in 2018.

Professor Dr. Xing said of his appointment: "AI is one of the most transformational technologies of our time, with the potential to have an immeasurable positive impact on economies, industries, and society. As President of MBZUAI, my vision is to build and enable a generation of leaders who have the necessary understanding, expertise, and skills to unlock the full potential of AI through academic research and industry applications.”

MBZUAI was established in 2019 as part of the UAE's move to make AI a strategic national priority, offering MSc and PhD level programs in key areas of AI such as machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. Its first academic year commences in January 2021, and the university has already extended admission offers to 101 students from around the world for its first cohort.