*The Schwartz Reisman Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of* ***Kelly Lyons*** *(left) as its interim director, taking over from the Institute’s inaugural Director* ***Gillian Hadfield*** *(right), who remains as Schwartz Reisman Chair alongside her appointment as a Schmidt Futures AI2050 senior fellow.*

The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) at the University of Toronto is pleased to announce the appointment of Kelly Lyons as its interim director, effective January 1, 2024.

A professor in the Faculty of Information with a cross-appointment to the Department of Computer Science, Lyons brings a wealth of leadership expertise, having served as one of SRI’s three associate directors in addition to previous roles as associate dean at the Faculty of Information, and acting vice-dean in the School of Graduate Studies. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Lyons was program director of the IBM Toronto Lab Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS).

Lyons’ extensive expertise in knowledge mobilization–including her NSERC Strategic Project Grant for the collaborative "Data-Driven Knowledge Mobilization, Translation & Innovation" project–will serve to harness and propel the vast diversity of research across disciplines at SRI.

Gillian Hadfield has served as the Schwartz Reisman Institute’s inaugural director since its inception in 2019. Hadfield, a professor in U of T’s Faculty of Law and Rotman School of Management and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, was recently named an AI2050 senior fellow by Schmidt Futures. The prestigious appointment comes at a key moment amidst a widespread global push for new AI policies, increased calls for regulating frontier AI models, and concerns about how powerful AI systems might pose existential risks.

Hadfield will retain her position as Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society, and will continue to play an essential role in furthering SRI’s research and solutions initiatives to help ensure advanced technologies benefit all of society.

“I’m tremendously grateful to Professor Lyons for committing to dedicating her expertise and leadership to steering the institute,” says Hadfield.

“It’s been an honour to guide the remarkable development of the Schwartz Reisman Institute over these past four years. I look forward to supporting Professor Lyons in her new leadership role while continuing to contribute to SRI’s mandate through my research on urgent and essential questions regarding the development and regulation of AI technologies.”

Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, congratulated Lyons on her appointment in a recent statement while noting that Hadfield “has successfully established the Institute as a renowned organization dedicated to world-class research and a central hub for convening interdisciplinary conversations on AI.”

“It is a source of pride to witness researchers from our academic community being acknowledged as thought leaders with the potential to shape the global AI agenda,” says Woodin. “It is a true testament to our commitment to push the boundaries of research excellence.”

In addition to her academic leadership roles, Lyons’ research interests include service science, knowledge mobilization, data science, and software engineering. She is the co-author of numerous articles and book chapters, has served on program committees for multiple conferences, given many keynotes and invited presentations, and co‐chaired several workshops.

“I am extremely excited to step into this new role as interim director,” says Lyons. “SRI’s community is extraordinary, in terms of its level of expertise, diversity, and impact. I’m eager to help find new ways to continue to advance research on the social impacts of powerful new technologies at this critical moment.”

Lyons is the recipient of numerous grants, including an NSERC Strategic Partnership Grant, NSERC Discovery Grants, an NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grant with SAP, two NSERC Engage Grants, several MITACS Accelerate Grants, a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant, two University of Toronto/UCL research grants, a Data Science Institute Catalyst Grant, an IBM Smarter Planet Faculty Innovation Grant, an IBM Advanced Studies grant, and has received funding through the GRAND Networks of Centres of Excellence.

Lyons is an IBM faculty fellow and current board member of CS-Can/Info-Can, Canada’s leading organization for the discipline of computer science. From 2020 to 2022, she served on the Board of the INFORMS Service Science Section. From 2008 to 2012, she was a member‐at‐large of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Council and a member of the Women’s Executive Council of the ACM. Lyons received her PhD in computing and information science from Queen’s University in 1994.