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UW–Madison Names Founding Dean for New College of Computing and AI

Major gifts plus campus investment aim to speed AI research, teaching, ethics work across campus.

Overview

  • Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, who was named founding dean Monday, will lead the launch set for July 1, 2026, the university’s first new college in more than 40 years.
  • The college has $100 million in gifts from the Catalyst Collective, with donors including Andy Konwinski, John and Tashia Morgridge, Signe Ostby, Jeff Tangney, Scott Cook, and Epic, plus more than $50 million in planned annual campus support.
  • It will unite computer sciences, data science, statistics, library science, and information science into one unit that can create new courses, certificates, majors, and degrees.
  • Plans call for 50 new faculty hires, many with joint appointments, to grow research and address AI’s risks, ethics, and real-world use.
  • Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said a national dean search will start in 2028 to guide the next phase after the launch.