Ask what keeps him up at night about artificial intelligence and you won’t get a single answer.

The University’s senior vice president for digital transformation and chief digital officer is tracking several threads at once: how AI can reshape higher education, why the job market isn’t collapsing the way headlines suggest, what it will take to rebuild trust in online content, the need for regulation and where the University’s massive stores of data fit into all of it.

Rubin shared some of his recent thinking as a panelist at a Maxwell School fireside chat on digital transformation and AI in New York state. Here are four takeaways.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how governments operate, how universities teach and how public institutions make decisions.

That was the central message of a recent fireside chat hosted by the . Dean moderated the conversation which brought together two leaders working at the forefront of AI adoption: , commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services (OGS), and , ������’s senior vice president for digital transformation and chief digital officer.

“The question before us is not whether AI will transform public life,” Van Slyke said. “It’s whether our institutions are ready to lead that transformation thoughtfully, equitably and effectively.”

Personalizing Learning and Expanding Access

Rubin opened the March 26 event with a claim about the stakes for higher education: AI, he said, has the potential to transform how universities teach in ways not seen in 200 years. “The idea of a professor standing in front of a room, lecturing—and students taking notes and then being assessed through projects, papers and exams—that model has not shifted,” he said. “What AI allows you to do is personalize learning.”

Personalization at scale has long been a challenge because no instructor can simultaneously tailor a course to every student’s pace and needs, he said. AI changes that equation.

Rubin shared how Syracuse has deployed more than 30,000 AI licenses across campus to drive equitable access and data security. Some students had already purchased AI tools on their own, while others could not afford them, he pointed out. Faculty and staff also needed a secure environment for uploading sensitive documents without routing data through commercial platforms.

Rubin also highlighted a less-discussed dimension of the University’s AI work: a private wireless network, built in partnership with JMA Wireless, that supports thermal sensors in academic buildings across campus. The sensors detect occupancy without capturing identifying information, allowing the University to optimize janitorial services, plan building capacity and, eventually, adjust heating and cooling based on actual use patterns.

A Measured Approach to Government AI

Moy noted that the state’s deliberate pace of technology adoption is a necessary safeguard rather than a liability. “I would contend that it’s important that government is risk-averse,” she said. “The information that we hold is really important—Medicaid data, health data, testing information. The importance of that stewardship becomes paramount.”

Her office oversees roughly 30 million square feet of state real estate, manages 1,500 procurement contracts valued at $44 billion and administers a design and construction portfolio of approximately $5.7 billion. Moy described the agency’s AI strategy as a measured approach. It involves first identifying low-risk, high-value applications, then building the data infrastructure to support them, and ensuring legal and operational frameworks are in place before scaling.

Moy said one of OGS’s most tangible AI investments is in procurement search. Agencies and municipalities navigating the state’s contract catalog often struggle to find what they need, undermining the efficiency those contracts are designed to provide. Moy said AI-assisted search is a logical starting point: low risk, no job displacement and an immediate opportunity to test what the technology can do.

The agency is also piloting AI-powered document summarization tools for bid documents and contract histories which are reported to save up to three hours per day.

Moy noted that backlogs present another opportunity, as they are a universal challenge across the public sector. She explained that while AI could help alleviate some of those challenges, agencies must be cautious; they cannot hand out productivity tools to every worker without first creating the right frameworks.

Jobs, Regulation and What Comes Next

Both speakers addressed audience concerns about AI’s impact on jobs—a topic that has gained urgency in New York following Governor Kathy Hochul’s , which is tasked with studying AI’s effects on the labor market.

Rubin cited research suggesting that less than 1% of the 1.2 million layoffs recorded in 2025 were directly attributable to AI, arguing that economic factors and structural business decisions are doing more to reshape the workforce than the technology itself. He expressed confidence that AI will ultimately create more jobs than it displaces, though he acknowledged that every job will change.

“If you don’t know how to incorporate AI into your domain and discipline, you will be at a disadvantage,” he said. “Students need to have the tools and the classes.”

Moy recalled the dot-com era and the transformation of publishing that upended models at institutions like the Brooklyn Public Library, where she once served as chief strategy officer. The fear and exuberance that accompanied those transitions, she said, mirrors what society is experiencing today.

“We want to make sure that we’re thinking about it ethically, that we’re balancing it according to public need,” she said. “And we’re having active conversations about those trade-offs.”

Both panelists returned repeatedly to the theme of transparency in AI systems, government data and institutional communications.

Rubin pointed to Anthropic’s practice of publishing system prompts as a model for responsible AI deployment and noted that Syracuse recently launched an AI-powered course search tool, called , that similarly makes its operating parameters visible. He also raised the challenge of AI-generated media and the difficulty of distinguishing real content from fabricated content online.

An Open and Ongoing Dialogue

The conversation drew questions from the audience.

A first-year Maxwell student and member of the University’s United AI club asked what precedent a recent court ruling holding social media platforms liable for algorithmic harm to minors sets for the future of AI regulation and whether platforms like ChatGPT should face similar oversight.

Rubin was direct: “We made the mistake with social media. These companies should have an obligation to have guardrails.”

Moy pointed to Hochul’s recent policy proposals targeting addictive technology, including requirements for more restrictive default settings on children’s accounts. She acknowledged that government is often a step behind rapid technological change, but argued that intervention becomes necessary when innovation results in public harm.

A second student raised concerns about AI’s potential to enable fraud, including falsified documents and biased algorithms.

“These are very real questions,” she said, emphasizing that OGS is working to understand its uses and risks. She argued that the answer isn’t avoiding AI but understanding it well enough to spot its misuse. “If we don’t understand it, we will fall behind.”

Rubin agreed, framing the detection challenge as both technological and philosophical: As AI becomes embedded in everything from autocomplete to document editing, defining what counts as “AI-generated” becomes increasingly difficult. “My gut is almost every piece of content out there will have some AI piece to it, assisting us,” he said. “So, it’s a technology challenge and a societal challenge.”

Van Slyke closed by noting that Maxwell’s role in preparing students for public service has always meant equipping them not just with technical knowledge, but with the ability to navigate the policy, governance and ethical dimensions that accompany it.

“The question is not what will AI do to our institutions,” he said. “It’s what will we choose to do with it.”

A group of ������ students has spent months working with Syracuse youth, guiding them through theater, design and media workshops that will culminate in a live public performance this spring.

The students are leading (Theater Workshop), an annual, bilingual creative arts program based at on Syracuse’s Near West Side.

The program, which involves and in addition to La Casita, delivers culturally oriented arts education for community youth, says , the University’s executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community. The workshops build dual-language skills, artistic presentation abilities and stage-presence confidence for children ages 6 and up.

The public performance will be held on Saturday, , at La Casita as part of the annual Arte Joven/Young Art exhibition, a celebration of visual art, music and dance. The event is open to the public.

Mutual Benefits

Taller de Teatro benefits both the students who lead the workshops and the children who participate, Paniagua says. “This program creates meaningful opportunities for University students to engage directly with the community while developing professional skills.”

The structure of the collaboration creates a dynamic environment where students and youngsters learn from one another, she says. “Several of the student instructors are studying drama and they are facilitating workshops alongside students from the creative arts therapy graduate program. Other students are contributing through documentation, photography, video and communications skills. In this way, the program becomes a multidisciplinary learning experience where students apply their training in a real community setting.”

For young actors and for theater students in particular, the chance to gain experience as instructors early in their careers can open important professional pathways, Paniagua says. “They are learning how to guide creative processes, work with children and adapt theater practices to educational and community contexts. Ultimately, the efforts of those involved are tremendous and they allow La Casita to offer high-quality theater programming to local youth.”

Kate Laissle, director of education at Syracuse Stage, says involving Syracuse students as teaching assistants for this program helps inspire and train the next generation of theater educators while providing programming that supports community connections.

‘For Everyone’

“The ability to partner with La Casita and build on our relationship and its well-established programming also helps show that theatre is for everyone,” Laissle says. “Working collaboratively between performance, design and storytelling, students get to experience the depth and breadth of theater. Using multiple capacities of theatrical art-making lets young people use their creativity in ways that serve them best. It is outstanding to see the growth of the students, both school- and college-aged, over the course of this program.”

This year’s student participants, who lead acting workshops and provide media support and documentation, are: GB Bellamy ’27 and Sofia Slaman ’27, acting majors, Department of Drama, VPA; Nashaly Bonilla ’28, major, Department of Drama, VPA; Catie Kobland ’21, G’26, fine arts graduate and master’s candidate in VPA; Iman Jamison G’26, master’s student in , School of Information Studies; Sara Oliveira ’29, film and media arts major, Department of Film and Media Arts, VPA; and Sophia Domenicis ’28, , Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Three Presenting Partners

The program is possible because of a collaboration among three university-connected organizations:

• La Casita Cultural Center is a program of ������ established to advance an educational and cultural agenda of civic engagement through research, cultural heritage preservation, media and the arts, bridging the Hispanic communities of the University and Central New York.
• Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact, celebrating its 50th year, bridges cultures and disciplines through exhibitions, poetry and  a permanent art collection. Its El Punto Art Studio has served youth since 2008.
• Syracuse Stage, the city’s leading professional theater, contributes expertise through acting and playwriting workshops that strengthen University-community connections and support literacy development.

recently announced the spring 2026 recipients of the Orange Innovation Fund, awarding $5,000 grants to a cohort of student inventors and entrepreneurs advancing high-potential ventures across health care, financial technology, consumer products and enterprise software.

The Orange Innovation Fund is designed to accelerate student-led startups beyond the idea stage, supporting founders who have demonstrated meaningful progress through customer discovery, prototyping and early validation.

The fund emphasizes deep research and development work, along with comprehensive proposal development, and recognizes ventures that show strong execution, real-world traction and a clear path toward commercialization. Funding supports critical next steps such as product development, regulatory readiness, pilot testing and go-to-market strategy.

“The Orange Innovation Fund plays a critical role in SU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, enabling student founders to move beyond concept and into execution,” says David Seaman, dean of Libraries and University Librarian. “By supporting ventures at a pivotal stage of development, the fund helps transform promising ideas into scalable businesses with real-world impact.”

Spring 2026 Winners

Celes Buffard ’27 (School of Information Studies) for SecondWave

SecondWave is a financial wellness platform that helps users build personalized roadmaps to manage and grow their finances. The platform combines education, tools and vetted resources to guide users toward financial independence. Funding will support minimum viable product (MVP) completion, user testing, cloud infrastructure and trademark registration, as well as continued customer discovery.

Jayson Bromley (Martin J. Whitman School of Management) for Bromley Bio Med LLC – InDeazy

InDeazy is an integrated incision and drainage device designed to improve efficiency, control and safety in urgent care and emergency settings. Funding will support final design refinement and pilot manufacturing, including engineering updates, simulated workflow testing and Food and Drug Administration pre-submission readiness.

Nicholas Davis ’26 (College of Engineering and Computer Science [ECS]) for Ethyra

Ethyra is an AI-native auto-grading and classroom analytics platform that helps educators save time and better understand student performance. Funding will support MVP completion, a version 1.0 launch and pilot testing at ������, the University of Washington and Eastside Preparatory School, along with learning management system integration and a study on grading efficiency.

Haley Greene ’26 (Newhouse School of Public Communications) for Miirror

Miirror is a clinically guided, peer-led, tech-enabled platform redefining eating disorder recovery. Offering free, inclusive and stigma-free tools, support circles, crisis resources and therapy matching, the platform connects underserved communities with accessible recovery pathways. Funding will support completion of the MVP, regulatory compliance, technical infrastructure and a campus pilot at ������.

Ronan Hussar ’26 (Whitman School) for MacroFlow

MacroFlow is an Excel add-in that automates macro creation, saving users significant time and increasing productivity. Funding will support development of secure AI implementation, full local functionality and enterprise-grade validation of macro generation capabilities.

Yasmin Madmoune G ’27 (Whitman School) for Yas Apothecary

Yas Apothecary is a Moroccan-inspired body care brand with a long-term vision of building a cooperative-based production infrastructure. Funding will support equipment upgrades, production scaling, wholesale market entry and supply chain development.

Nathan Brekke ’26 (ECS), G ’27 (Whitman School) and Joshua Varkey ’26 (ECS) for Phloat

Phloat is a magnetically attachable flotation device that deploys to bring a submerged phone back to the surface. Funding will support the first commercial-grade production run, field testing with beta users and development of a scalable manufacturing supply chain. The company has recently filed for a patent.

Jack Venerus ’27 (School of Information Studies) for WingStat

WingStat is a business-to-business platform for aircraft transaction data in the pre-owned business jet market. Funding will support the transition from a no-code MVP to a production-ready platform, including backend infrastructure, authentication systems and automated data workflows.

About the Orange Innovation Fund

The Orange Innovation Fund was initially established through a gift to the Libraries from Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill ’98, an alumna, a member of the Board of Trustees and an operating partner at Silicon Valley Quad (an angel investing syndicate). The program is administered through ������ Libraries as a Universitywide initiative, run in collaboration with multiple campus innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Proposal reviewers include entrepreneurial faculty and staff, along with alumni who have come through the ecosystem and are venture founders or in C-Suite roles at leading innovation companies.

Three ������ faculty members—, and —have been named fellows of the (AAAS). The highly prestigious designation recognizes extraordinary achievements and contributions to the advancement of science.

Fifteen Syracuse faculty members have been named AAAS Fellows since 2004. This is the first time the honor has gone to three professors in a single year.

“This is one of the most distinguished honors a researcher can receive, and I am incredibly proud that three of our exceptional faculty members have earned this recognition,” says Lois Agnew, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer. “Their work reflects ������’s deep commitment to advancing knowledge that matters, both within our fields and for the world at large. We congratulate them on this well-deserved honor and look forward to the continued impact of their scholarship.”

Duncan Brown

Brown, the Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics in the (A&S), has served as the University’s vice president for research since 2022. An internationally recognized leader in gravitational-wave astronomy, he was a founding member of the search for merging black holes that led to the discovery of gravitational waves with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

His current research focuses on the development of Cosmic Explorer, a proposed next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave observatory, and the use of gravitational-wave observations to explore the nuclear equation of state.

AAAS recognized Brown for “foundational contributions enabling the search for and discovery of gravitational waves from black hole and neutron star coalescences, and for leadership in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Cosmic Explorer.”

Kevin Crowston

Crowston is a distinguished professor of information science in the . His research explores how information and communication technology—particularly the internet and artificial intelligence—changes the way people work. He and his colleagues have explored Free/Libre Open Source Software development, citizen science, data science teamwork and the future of journalism, using a mix of observation, theory-building and tool design. His most recent project, supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, examines the impact of generative AI on human skill development and retention, particularly in programming.

AAAS recognized Crowston for “distinguished contributions to information science through groundbreaking research on coordination theory and virtual organizations, exceptional editorial leadership and dedicated service building interdisciplinary communities studying technology-mediated work.”

Lisa Manning

Manning is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics in A&S. Her research uses computer modeling and physics-based theory to understand how groups of cells behave in living tissue and how materials like glass or sand deform and break down.

Her work has real-world implications for cancer, wound healing, embryonic development and asthma. In 2019, she was named a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), an honor given to just half of 1% of the professional organization’s membership. She served as founding director of the from 2019-23.

AAAS recognized Manning for “distinguished contributions to the theory of mechanical response and adaptation in biological materials.”

Distinguished Group

Brown, Crowston and Manning join 12 other Syracuse faculty members previously named AAAS Fellows: , distinguished professor of physics (2024); , professor of physics and interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (2023); , associate professor of biology (2023); , professor of electrical engineering and computer science (2018); , University Professor of Environmental Systems and Distinguished Professor, civil and environmental engineering (2017); , professor of physics and A&S interim associate dean for creativity, scholarship and research (2016); , dean emeritus and professor emeritus of biology (2013); , professor emerita of physics (2013); , professor emeritus of Earth and environmental sciences (2012); , professor emeritus of biology (2011); , professor of biology (2007); and , professor emeritus of political science (2004).

For , beliefs are a bit like the weather. Introne, associate professor in the School of Information Studies (iSchool), studies how ideas cluster and shift across a population—much like currents in a changing atmosphere. Introne recently received a one-year, $300,000 grant from the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) to map these “belief weather patterns” with a new kind of forecasting tool.

“I’m so excited about this grant,” Introne says. “I’ve been working on this project for years, since I started at ������, so it’s gratifying to see it advance.”

The project, “Predicting Belief Evolution In Non-Ergodic Systems,” builds on Introne’s ongoing research into how population beliefs change over time.

“I envision beliefs as a big, high-dimensional space,” Introne says. “Individuals—holding vast numbers of beliefs—move through that space in distinct patterns, and people with similar beliefs move in similar ways.” He compares it to leaves drifting in a stream. While the currents aren’t visible, their direction can be inferred from the leaves’ movement.

“I want to understand these belief patterns to develop better predictive models, diagnose polarization and even anticipate extremist events or conflicts,” Introne explained. “These are not abstract mathematical ideas—they have real-world impact.”

With doctoral student Mia Huiqian Lai, Introne is analyzing a decade of Reddit and Twitter data, along with news articles. “The years 2013 to 2023 include key events like COVID, the Me Too movement and the 2016 and 2020 elections,” he says.

While social media data allows for surprisingly accurate predictions about individual beliefs over time, Introne focuses on global patterns. His goal is to develop a “physics of belief” that accounts for non-ergodicity—where past patterns don’t reliably repeat. Models can become outdated as language evolves (for example, “corona” went from primarily being known as a Mexican beer to referring to a virus) or as beliefs change political alignment (such as anti-vaccine attitudes spreading across ideological groups).

The belief landscape framework tracks how pockets of belief shift over time. It identifies when the system reaches a tipping point, showing “critical slowing”— recovering more slowly from shocks and making it fragile and primed for major events at the level of the Arab Spring or the George Floyd protests.

For the current project, Introne is focusing on beliefs and issues that are likely to impact national security—including social unrest, pandemics and big market changes. “But certainly other sorts of indicators would be useful for predicting global events, like looking at population changes, financial signals, corruption levels of different governments,” he says.

And in the long run, Introne hopes his modeling can help improve or even replace traditional opinion polling as a more flexible and realistic way to understand public sentiment, not by asking survey questions but by observing natural conversations.

“We might develop a metric to assess whether our public discourse is healthy and resilient,” Introne says. “These insights could guide better deliberative tools—but any work must be guided by a strong ethical stance.”

Six faculty members have been elected to serve on the .

Committee members advise the vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer and work to ensure consistent promotion and tenure processes and promote high academic standards. They serve two-year, staggered terms and are not eligible to serve consecutive terms.

Newly elected committee members are:

• , Katchmar-Wilhelm Professor, School of Information Studies
• , professor, School of Architecture
• , professor, College of Law
• , professor and director of biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
• , professor of higher education, School of Education
• , professor and chair of geography and the environment, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Promotion and tenure cases that meet the criteria for review—for example, those that have substantial disagreement between layers of recommendation or a strong probability of a negative determination—are taken up by committee members. They offer an advisory vote to the provost but do not issue a formal report or consider appeals.

The committee is convened by Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Jamie Winders. Provost Lois Agnew is chair of the committee, and Vice President for Research Duncan Brown serves in an ex-officio capacity.

Distinguished Professor of Information Science Kevin Crowston has received a $50,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch a pilot study examining how the use of generative AI tools is reshaping the way software developers learn and retain core programming skills.

“Generative AI is expected to change many different kinds of work, but it’s already having an impact on coding, where it’s particularly useful,” says Crowston, in the . His proposal cites Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s 2024 estimate that as much as 25% of the company’s code was being  written with the assistance of AI tools—a sign of the rapidly shifting landscape.

These advances raise new questions about how programmers acquire skills. “There’s potential for real productivity increases, with people writing more code more quickly,” Crowston says. “But the fear is that because you have the machine doing these tasks, people will stop practicing them, with negative consequences for their own abilities.”

To explore this possibility, Crowston, professor of practice Michael Fudge and Francesco Bolici, associate professor at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio in Italy have put together a three-year proposal for the National Science Foundation.

The Sloan Foundation grant will kickstart the first year of research, supporting student involvement—doctoral students Akit Kumar at Syracuse and Alberto Varone in Italy, along with undergraduate Cassandra Rivera ’27 are part of the team—and two initial studies.

“I was extremely pleased to receive this funding,” Crowston says. “It gives us external validation that our project is addressing an interesting and important idea.”

Learning to Code

The first of the two studies will examine how undergraduate students in a required introductory Python course use generative AI tools. “The hypothesis is that if you’re just using the tool to do your work, you’ll finish the assignments but won’t actually learn,” Crowston says. “We expect students who ask questions to understand each line of code to learn more.”

The researchers are also exploring what motivates these different patterns of use. Students who are genuinely interested in programming may turn to AI in ways that deepen understanding, while students who feel time pressure or are taking the class only to fulfill a requirement may be more inclined to let AI do the work.

At the same time, Crowston noted, programming itself may be evolving. “Maybe the days of coding each for loop are behind us,” he says. “Maybe the real skill is learning how to convey what you want to the AI—and to check that it did it correctly.”

The study will explore how these novel AI skills intersect with the traditional skills of programming.

Long-Term Impacts of AI

Experienced programmers are subjects of the second study. The team plans to interview 40 individuals who develop software to support scientific research about how they use generative AI, what benefits they see and whether they worry about long-term impacts on their own abilities.

For scientific domains, the stakes may be especially high. While AI models have been trained on large amounts of general-purpose Python, they have seen far less specialized code—such as software used to model black hole collisions or other niche scientific phenomena.

“You could imagine the model producing code that looks plausible but isn’t scientifically accurate,” Crowston says. Experienced programmers recognize this risk, he says—“they’re really, really worried about it”—but newer programmers may not have the same skepticism.

Crowston believes the project taps into a broader question facing many professions. What happens to expertise when AI takes over routine tasks? Early evidence from several industries suggests that entry-level hiring is already declining.

“If companies rely on AI to do the work entry-level people used to do, then two years later they have nobody with two years of experience,” he says. “That’s not great for students—and it’s a challenge for employers and universities alike.”

When Chris Teodoro G’22 embarked on his ������ journey after 24 years in the U.S. Army, he discovered what many transitioning veterans already know: asking for help doesn’t come naturally.

Thankfully, that provides customized support and explains the essential resources available to guide veterans and military-connected students on their journey to a college degree.

Now in its second year, the (OVMA) Resiliency Program (ORP)—a collaboration with and the (housed in the )—represents a new model of integrative support for veterans and military-connected students transitioning from active duty to pursuing a degree.

“There’s this belief among veterans that they don’t need to ask for help and can figure out the issues they’re dealing with. But student veterans need to know they don’t have to go through this transition alone, that there are lots of us who have transitioned and are more than willing to give back,” says Teodoro, who is currently pursuing a doctorate of professional studies in information management from the .

ORP staff employ a holistic perspective, combining academic, social, emotional and spiritual skills to provide a model approach for supporting veterans and military-connected students.

“Our mission is addressing the unique stressors that veterans and military-connected students face in higher education while promoting their resiliency, their academic and personal successes and the connectedness of our campus,” says , program director and faculty director of online programs and strategic initiatives in the School of Education. “We’re serving veterans in a comprehensive way.”

Targeting educational rather than clinical offerings, Marfilius says the ORP has helped connect veterans to housing and academic advising resources, developed impactful programs, built campus partnerships and engaged with faculty and staff to raise awareness about the unique needs of student veterans.

VITAL Program Bridges Gap Between Military and Academic Life

One of the program’s early successes is the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership (VITAL) program, a partnership with the Syracuse Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center’s .

Working with the , veterans and military-connected students can receive direct access to mental health and wellness professionals while learning more about applicable VA programs and benefits, receiving advice and guidance as they transition from active duty into academic life.

“Transitioning from military service to civilian life can be overwhelming, and entering an academic environment adds another layer of complexity,” says Sonya Mangovski, Syracuse VA M2VA program manager. “VITAL bridges that gap, providing student veterans the support they need to thrive both academically and personally.”

During each semester, drop-in office hours for the VITAL program are held on the first floor of the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building. Military-connected students can email the ORP for more information about upcoming office hours.

“This is valuable outreach and education, and we’re hoping to develop workshops and trainings around this effort,” Marfilius says. “This connection really strengthens the bridge between our campus and the VA, ensuring that no students fall through the cracks.”

Normalizing Help-Seeking Behaviors

The ORP gave Teodoro access to an academic advisor who knows first-hand what he’s going through: Marfilius, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served as a mental health provider as an active-duty officer.

As Teodoro works toward his second degree—he also earned a master of business administration degree from the —he is focusing on how special operations veterans like himself can successfully navigate their transition from active duty to civilian life.

“The support from the military-connected community at Syracuse has been outstanding,” says Teodoro, who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida. “I am involved in our military community here in Tampa and want to use the framework of my degree to make an impact for our transitioning veterans.”

By connecting the University’s academic departments with veterans’ services resources on campus and in the community, the ORP is providing a coordinated and informed approach while helping remove barriers to success for military-connected students.

“Making this program more visible and accessible helps us normalize help-seeking behaviors while building a stronger sense of community,” Marfilius says.

The University’s (OSPO) has received a two-year, $719,330 grant from the to transition from a grant-funded initiative to a sustainable, permanent University institution.

“This grant represents a critical milestone in our journey to make the OSPO a permanent part of ������,” says director Collin Capano. “Over the next two years, we’ll be working to establish sustainable funding mechanisms and integrate open-source development more deeply into our academic curriculum, ensuring that OSPO continues to serve our community long after Sloan Foundation funding ends.”

OSPO, a joint initiative of the and the , serves as a bridge between academic research and open-source software development, helping faculty across disciplines create, maintain and share research software while providing students with hands-on experience in collaborative software development.

Since its founding in 2023, OSPO has supported projects spanning fields from psychology and political science to physics and finance and engaged students in developing tools that advance both research and student career readiness, according to Capano.

The renewal grant will enable OSPO to expand impact through several key initiatives. OSPO’s successful software development program will be transformed into a dual-track system: an academic course allowing students to earn credit while working on faculty research projects, and a paid internship program focused on OSPO-led initiatives.

“These projects address University needs while positioning students at the forefront of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence,” Capano says. “Students who participate in our programs graduate with more than just course credits—they have public portfolios showcasing real contributions to actual projects. This demonstrated experience with industry-standard tools gives our graduates a significant competitive advantage.”

OSPO has already developed several innovative tools for the Syracuse community, including a data storage finder that helps faculty identify and budget for research data storage solutions. Projects currently under development include an AI-powered research chatbot trained on papers published by ������ faculty and an AI-based preprint server alert system that monitors new research publications and delivers personalized summaries to faculty based on their interests.

OSPO also addresses a critical federal mandate requiring all federally funded research to be publicly accessible, as academic institutions must provide infrastructure and expertise to support open science practices.

During the grant period, OSPO staff will conduct a formal evaluation of possible institutional homes for the program and document findings in a comprehensive playbook to guide other universities developing open-source programs.

OSPO will also expand its educational offerings through a series of microcredentialed workshops covering research computing fundamentals and open-source development practices, with materials made freely available to students from any discipline.

“The integration of open-source and AI development into the curriculum enhances our students’ employability while strengthening the University’s research capacity,” Capano said. “We’re creating a model that other academic institutions can adopt and adapt for their own communities.”

In addition to Capano, OSPO co-principal investigators are , vice president for research; , dean of University Libraries; and , associate vice president for information technology and chief technology officer.

OSPO was established with seed funding from the Sloan Foundation; the renewal grant will support the program through October 2027.

The Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad (LaunchPad) held its annual Impact Prize competition on Nov. 19 at Bird Library, commemorating Global Entrepreneurship Week. Seven student startup companies were awarded a total of $15,000 in cash prizes for ventures that create meaningful change.

The event featured a keynote from Carl Schramm, University Professor in the School of Information Studies and an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth.  An economist, serial entrepreneur and author of the book “Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do,” Schramm was named  “the evangelist of entrepreneurship” by The Economist.

This year’s winners are:

• First place ($5,000): Haley Greene ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), founder of Miirror, a free, peer-led digital platform providing inclusive eating-disorder recovery support and crisis tools, making treatment accessible for underserved communities.
• Second place (tie) ($4,000): Dylan Bardsley ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of Clarity, an AI-powered credit card discovery tool that gives students personalized, unbiased recommendations to avoid debt and build credit.
• Second place (tie) ($4,000): Jacob Kaplan ’28 (School of Information Studies), founder of The OtherGlasses, adjustable prescription glasses using tunable liquid-crystal lenses that fit normal frames, allowing real-time vision changes without multiple pairs.
• Runner up ($500): Carolina Aguayo-Pla ’27 (School of Information Studies/Whitman School), founder of Frutecho, a modular cooling retrofit for non-refrigerated trucks that reduces produce spoilage and helps small farmers access premium markets.
• Runner up ($500): Ava Lubkemann ’27 (College of Engineering and Computer Science), founder of Revamped, a mobile thrift and textile-recovery model that collects, refurbishes and resells donated clothing to cut waste and expand affordable access.
• Runner up ($500): Rajdeep Chatterjee G’26 (Whitman School), founder of TradeBridge, a blue-collar ed-tech platform offering mobile-first vocational training, integrated tool purchasing and job placement.
•  Runner up ($500): Samantha Kurland ’26 (Newhouse School), founder of Acellsé, a high-fashion brand using medical cell imagery to create ethical, purpose-driven apparel that funds medical research.

During this year’s competition, the LaunchPad pilot tested new accessibility technology from Sign-Speak, a local upstate New York startup, which provided real-time American Sign Language translation during the competition.

This year’s 2025 Impact Prize competition judging panel included  Suli Abdul Sabor, fashion designer and owner of By Suli; Lee Carman, chief commercial banking officer for Broadview Federal Credit Union; Corinne Sartori, Libraries’ inclusion and accessibility specialist; Alice Maggiore, media strategist at Strategic Communications LLC;  Ibou Ithior, senior HIV prevention technical advisor at PATH; Meghan Durso, senior human capital manager at TDO; Janice Harvey, founder of JJR Strategies LLC; Emad Rahim, CenterState CEO Syracuse Surge entrepreneurship manager; Hailee Greene, chief everything officer at Green Acres Processing; Peter Wohl, chief performance officer at Broadview Federal Credit Union; Rina Corigliano-Hart, director of client engagement and outreach at OneGroup; and Vicente Cuevas, program coordinator at the Lerner Center in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Story by Sawyer Tardie ’27, Whitman School

Five students have been selected as and will work with the project, an initiative that helps  (SCSD) youth build math and data literacy skills to address pressing issues in their community.

The fellows will work with Nicole Fonger, associate professor of mathematics and mathematics education in the and . Fonger is the 2025-27 faculty fellow.

The student research fellows are:

G’23, ’25, a third-year doctoral student in sociology in the who also earned master’s degrees in both sociology and geography. The Syracuse native graduated from SCSD and has been involved in the Data Warriors program for four years. Her work blends ethnography, interviews, GIS mapping and youth participatory action research to explore how young people address segregation and inequity.

’27, a dual economics and international relations major in the Maxwell School with a minor in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises. She serves as a University student ambassador and is part of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. She founded the Ikya Women’s Health Foundation to promote women’s health awareness and wellness in her home country of Zambia.

’28, a double major in policy studies and law, society and policy in the Maxwell School with minors in business and information management and technology. She is the founder and president of the ������ chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

G’27, a master’s student in communication and rhetorical studies in the . Her research focuses on how rhetoric shapes language policies and narratives of grief, trauma and belonging. She is the founder of the Disorders Collective, a community platform on mental health in South Asia.

Shavonne Jacobs ’27, an information management and technology major in the with a minor in architecture. Her interests bridge technology, architecture and environmental science.

Started in 2021, the Data Warriors project now includes 21 researchers from two SCSD high schools. They use math, maps and data analysis to study lead poisoning, code violations, housing conditions, car thefts and income disparities, as well as current immigration policies and historic parallels in Syracuse. The high schoolers aim to train as community-engaged scholars; support community-engaged math education; and inform local government officials about their research findings.

Data Warriors students and their teachers visited campus recently to attend mathematician and musician Eugenia Cheng’s lecture and performance, “The Logic of Creativity: Music, Mathematics and Expression,” part of the School of Education’s Ganders Lecture Series. The group will present their research on lead poisoning in Syracuse at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State conference in Rochester this month.

A widespread internet outage caused by a problem with Amazon Web Services (AWS) disrupted services globally this morning. Affected services included social media apps like Snapchat and Signal, other Amazon platforms, government services and some airlines. The problem appears to have stemmed from issues at a critical Northern Virginia hub for global internet infrastructure.

is an associate professor in the ������ School of Information Studies (iSchool) whose research specialty includes cybersecurity. He provides written comments that can be quoted directly. He is available for interviews as more information becomes available, and for future topics related to cybersecurity practices in the public and private sectors.

McKnight says:

“When AWS, the largest cloud computing service provider with one third of the market, sneezes, many internet-dependent services die until whatever issue caused the outage is resolved.

“For this outage and others, it appears to be the ‘DNS resolution of the DynamoDB API endpoint in US-EAST -1.’

“Translated to English, the Domain Name System—the global internet’s directory system for all websites worldwide—is a critical digital public infrastructure the world depends on. It could not be reached from AWS’s massive data centers in the Eastern U.S.

“In this case of today’s AWS outage, it does not appear to be a cyberattack on their APIs, but rather an internal issue, that is, a cloud software misconfiguration. Essentially, every time software is updated, to add a new feature or close a security hole that has been discovered, there is a need for quality assurance purposes to test its performance before releasing the update to all systems.

“In this case, AWS’s ‘s US-EAST-1 went down in the middle of the night for Eastern Time residents but took out services nationwide and worldwide that were drawing some data or service from AWS. While many are now restored, outage reports persist.

“I have no insider knowledge or exactly what happened, but a reasonable supposition is that a routine cloud software upgrade cascaded into today’s outage incident.”

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
������ Media Relations
M��315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu |

On April 28, 2025, a major power outage affected millions across Spain, Portugal and parts of southern France due to what authorities described as a “.” Although the exact cause was not immediately confirmed, concerns quickly arose about the possibility of a cyberattack. Such trepidation highlights how in today’s interconnected world, something as simple as a phishing email can trigger a chain reaction that jeopardizes the safety and well-being of millions.

Recognizing the exponentially growing importance of cybersecurity, the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S’)  (Forensics Institute) offers a  in partnership with the  (iSchool). This program is designed to equip future professionals with the critical skills needed to safeguard sensitive information and infrastructure while holding malicious actors accountable. The M.S. blends courses in digital forensics, cybersecurity and data analytics with advanced forensic science and crime scene investigation.

What Are Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics?

While closely interconnected, these disciplines represent proactive and reactive approaches to managing digital threats. Whereas cybersecurity focuses on preventing attacks and protecting digital infrastructure, digital forensics is concerned with investigating breaches in established cybersecurity and identifying the cause, scope and perpetrators of the attack.

With digital evidence now central to over 90% of criminal cases, as reported in the , the program equips students for careers in cybersecurity, digital investigations and intelligence analysis. They also gain hands-on experience through fieldwork at top-tier facilities, including federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense, along with various crime laboratories and prosecutor’s offices.

Learning from Leaders in Cybersecurity

A key strength of the program is the access students have to faculty who are actively engaged in cutting-edge, practical research. A prime example is , courtesy research professor and adjunct professor of forensics who also received a master’s degree in forensic science from A&S and a Ph.D. in cybersecurity from the Federal University of Technology Paraná in Brazil. When not teaching courses at Syracuse, he is conducting international research with organizations like the Brazilian Army at the Military Institute of Engineering.

“We focus on developing advanced simulated environments that can replicate everything from energy substations to entire distribution systems,” says Lemos about his current work. “These environments allow us to simulate cyberattacks and study system and device behavior, including the integration of physical equipment.”

Over the past decade, Lemos says the significant rise in attacks on critical infrastructure, such as the  in 2015 and the  in 2021, which significantly affected fuel supply to the U.S. East Coast, emphasize the growing need for highly trained professionals to work in both prevention and incident response.

Ensuring Grid Resilience

Lemos’ work in Brazil involves safeguarding that country’s power supply by exploring how systems react before, during and after an incident—without the risks or costs associated with testing real infrastructure.

“These simulations help uncover vulnerabilities, assess system resilience and evaluate the effectiveness of various detection and defense mechanisms. They also support the development of robust incident response plans and recovery protocols,” Lemos says. In turn, he brings this expertise and a deeper, more practical understanding of how to protect critical systems into the classroom at Syracuse, enriching the learning experience for students.

In his course, Computational Forensics, students are introduced to cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. These tools are vital in the field of cybersecurity to sift through vast amounts of network traffic data to detect unusual patterns. By tackling practical forensic problems, students develop both the technical expertise and an analytical mindset essential for careers in cybersecurity and digital investigations.

Lemos sees sharing the professional knowledge he’s gained as a meaningful way to give back, recognizing the pivotal role his A&S education played in shaping his career.

“My education at ������ was foundational to the work I do today,” he says. “The combination of strong theoretical grounding and hands-on experience—guided by professors who are both researchers and practitioners—gave me the tools to engage with real-world cybersecurity challenges. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support students as they prepare for impactful careers in high-stakes fields like military operations and critical infrastructure systems.”

By combining rigorous academic instruction with applied learning and direct engagement with faculty leading global initiatives, the Forensics Institute equips students to confront today’s complex digital threats. This integrated approach aligns with the University’s and A&S’s priorities of preparing students for careers in emerging and innovative technologies.

The Blackstone LaunchPad hosted Ideas Fest, the annual LaunchPad student innovator competition, in Bird Library on Sept. 12. The event drew more than 60 student entrepreneurs from various schools and colleges across campus, and they delivered a 90-second elevator pitch to a panel of judges.

Winners received $4,500 in cash prizes as well as a 30-minute mentoring session with the CEOs of Ami Cole and Overtime Media. These prizes provide student founders with the early stage support needed to jump-start their ventures and cover startup costs.

Here is what a few of the winners had to say about their ventures and about the experience as a whole:

• ’28 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications) is the founder of , a platform designed to support club leaders. Josefson describes his platform as one that will “streamline and organize every aspect of running a club, whether that is dues, membership management or event planning.” His main goal with this venture is to “support the club leaders at different universities and help them build community.”

• ’25 (Whitman School) is the founder of Fit Friends, a social networking app for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The app allows users to connect with others in their local area who share similar athletic interests, goals and skill levels, making it easier to find a workout partner or teammate. McDermott plans to use the prize money for app development, hoping to create a platform where users can “find and swipe and match with other people” who share their passion for fitness.

• G’26 (College of Engineering and Computer Science) is developing a venture focused on creating a supportive brace for individuals with connective tissue disorders. The device is designed to help prevent joint dislocations by detecting muscle weakness and promoting safer movement. Sipperly aims to create a product that will help users “promote more effective and safe movement going forward, ultimately aiding in their physical therapy and improving their quality of life.”

Other student winners from Ideas Fest:

• Rajdeep Chatterjee G ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management)

• Luzceleste Delgadillo ’28 (College of Engineering and Computer Science)

• Haley Greene ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)

• Ava Lubkemann ’27 (Engineering and Computer Science)

• Yasmin Madmoune G’27 (Whitman School)

• Imaad Maqsood ’29 (Whitman School and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs)

• Luke Spears G’26 (Engineering and Computer Science)

• Kellen Stewart ’27 (School of Information Studies and the Whitman School)

• Samuel Turin ’27 (Newhouse School)

Judges for the 2025 Ideas Fest:

This year’s panel of judges included alumni, doctoral candidates, business leaders and staff at ������:

• Tyrin Fernandes ’21;

• Kevin Foresti ’99;

• Janice Harvey ’73, G’85;

• Frank Marin ’24, G’24;

• Phil McKnight ’20;

• Damaris (Koi) Munyua G’22;

• Thomas P. O’Brien ’25;

• Cydavia Patterson (Newhouse School Ph.D. student);

• Lisa Smith, Broadview Federal Credit Union;

• TJ Stewart, ������ Libraries;

• Justin Storie, Libraries;

• Barnabas Szilagyi, Broadview Federal Credit Union;

• Dhwani R. Vora G’25;

• George E Wazen, ������ Public Safety Coordinator;

• Earl Young, Broadview Federal Credit Union.

Story by Mariah Brown ’26, student in the Whitman School and the School of Information Studies