The CollegeVine Future 15

Matthew Gunkel serves as Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside. He is charged with enabling support of strategic priorities, collaborative partnerships, and strengthening campus IT services. Matthew has championed the institution-wide deployment of generative AI tools with appropriate safety protections, enabling faculty, staff, and students to access secure AI capabilities at scale. He also serves on the UC AI Council, where he brings his expertise to foster initiatives supporting responsible AI adoption across the UC system.

Dr. Mary Chase is Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Creighton University, where she is pioneering the integration of AI technologies to transform student recruitment and enrollment experiences. She has led Creighton's implementation of AI-enhanced recruitment strategies that deliver personalized, one-on-one engagement with prospective students at scale, while also serving as a thought leader helping enrollment professionals across higher education navigate the strategic and structural changes necessary to effectively leverage AI in their work.

Lav Varshney serves as the inaugural Director of the AI Innovation Institute (AI3) at Stony Brook University. He is committed to working across disciplines to find actionable solutions that will have a meaningful, positive impact on society through AI. His research interests encompass AI foundations, applications, ethics and policy, bringing expertise from his previous work as a White House Fellow on the National Security Council staff and as a principal research scientist at Salesforce focused on AI ethics and governance.

Dr. Bao Johri serves as Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Fresno State. She is the Co-Executive Sponsor of Fresno State's Artificial Intelligence Initiative, working collaboratively with over 60 faculty and staff to integrate AI thoughtfully into teaching, learning, and operations. Under her leadership, Fresno State developed comprehensive AI governance guidelines and launched an AI platform designed to support critical processes while ensuring ethical use that aligns with the university's mission and values.

Ravi Pendse serves as Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Michigan. He led the development of UM-GPT and Maizey, custom AI tools that prioritize equity, accessibility, and privacy by providing free access to the entire campus community of over 100,000 students, faculty, and staff. His vision positions Michigan as a leader in responsible AI adoption, emphasizing that generative AI should enhance and augment humanity rather than replace it, while establishing best-practice standards for privacy protections, data use controls, and research integrity.

Taylor Black serves as the founding director of Catholic University of America's new interdisciplinary Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies. He brings together faculty from engineering, business, science, art, and philosophy to pursue innovation, and is focused on providing the tools and training for students necessary to navigate the new economic paradigm created by AI.

Jennifer Fischer serves as Chief AI Officer & Director of the Institute for Innovation & Emerging Technologies at Caldwell University. She has pioneered a comprehensive AI leadership framework encompassing strategic planning, faculty development, student engagement, and ethical considerations that align with the university's mission and values. Through the Institute, she advances three strategic pillars—learning innovation, responsible innovation, and workforce innovation—developing a holistic approach to AI integration that touches every aspect of university life from classroom instruction to administrative operations.

Neeraj Kumar is Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Roosevelt University, where he is spearheading a comprehensive campus-wide AI initiative to transform administrative operations. He is leading Roosevelt's strategic deployment of AI-driven solutions across critical university functions—from course scheduling and registration to transcript evaluation and financial aid—aiming to improve the speed and accuracy of information delivery while streamlining workflows for faculty and staff. His data-driven, collaborative approach to AI adoption positions Roosevelt at the forefront of responsible AI integration in higher education.

Dr. Jeffrey Bardzell serves as the Vice Provost for Artificial Intelligence and Chief AI Officer at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He brings a distinctive human-centered computing perspective to AI strategy—emphasizing thoughtful, critical engagement with the technology's societal implications alongside its opportunities. He leads UNC's efforts to prepare students for an AI-ubiquitous world through initiatives spanning AI literacy education, aligning academic work with AI to the university’s public mission, and supporting programs, such as the Library AI Studio that foster responsible experimentation and dialogue across the community.

Christopher Misra serves as the Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He provided executive leadership to the team developing the UMass GenAI Platform, an in-house built platform that allows faculty, staff, and students to explore leading AI models in a secure environment where all data is protected and chats are not used to train external systems. Guided by his philosophy that "AI will only be as powerful as the trust we build around it," he has championed an approach to AI adoption rooted in university values of open inquiry, privacy, and shared learning.

Chris Mattmann serves as UCLA's inaugural Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer—the first such position in the University of California system. He develops strategic roadmaps for AI innovation while establishing governance frameworks to ensure ethical and responsible AI practices are followed across the campus community. He also chairs the UC Systemwide AI Council Sub-Committee on Innovation and Impact. Dr. Mattmann contributed to UCLA's institutional-scale agreement with OpenAI, making UCLA the first California university to incorporate this technology at such scale.

Vincent Del Casino serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Jose State University. He spearheaded the creation of the College of Information, Data and Society, the first of its kind in the CSU system, which brings together amazing programs in library and information science and applied data intelligence to prepare students for emerging technology careers. Efforts across the entire campus are also focused on addressing the ethical challenges posed by AI. He has championed campus-wide AI integration, supported student-led initiatives on responsible AI usage, and overseen faculty development programs that embed AI literacy and ethical authorship across disciplines.

Matthew Gunkel serves as Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside. He is charged with enabling support of strategic priorities, collaborative partnerships, and strengthening campus IT services. Matthew has championed the institution-wide deployment of generative AI tools with appropriate safety protections, enabling faculty, staff, and students to access secure AI capabilities at scale. He also serves on the UC AI Council, where he brings his expertise to foster initiatives supporting responsible AI adoption across the UC system.

Dr. Mary Chase is Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at Creighton University, where she is pioneering the integration of AI technologies to transform student recruitment and enrollment experiences. She has led Creighton's implementation of AI-enhanced recruitment strategies that deliver personalized, one-on-one engagement with prospective students at scale, while also serving as a thought leader helping enrollment professionals across higher education navigate the strategic and structural changes necessary to effectively leverage AI in their work.

Lav Varshney serves as the inaugural Director of the AI Innovation Institute (AI3) at Stony Brook University. He is committed to working across disciplines to find actionable solutions that will have a meaningful, positive impact on society through AI. His research interests encompass AI foundations, applications, ethics and policy, bringing expertise from his previous work as a White House Fellow on the National Security Council staff and as a principal research scientist at Salesforce focused on AI ethics and governance.

Dr. Bao Johri serves as Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Fresno State. She is the Co-Executive Sponsor of Fresno State's Artificial Intelligence Initiative, working collaboratively with over 60 faculty and staff to integrate AI thoughtfully into teaching, learning, and operations. Under her leadership, Fresno State developed comprehensive AI governance guidelines and launched an AI platform designed to support critical processes while ensuring ethical use that aligns with the university's mission and values.

Ravi Pendse serves as Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at the University of Michigan. He led the development of UM-GPT and Maizey, custom AI tools that prioritize equity, accessibility, and privacy by providing free access to the entire campus community of over 100,000 students, faculty, and staff. His vision positions Michigan as a leader in responsible AI adoption, emphasizing that generative AI should enhance and augment humanity rather than replace it, while establishing best-practice standards for privacy protections, data use controls, and research integrity.

Taylor Black serves as the founding director of Catholic University of America's new interdisciplinary Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies. He brings together faculty from engineering, business, science, art, and philosophy to pursue innovation, and is focused on providing the tools and training for students necessary to navigate the new economic paradigm created by AI.

Jennifer Fischer serves as Chief AI Officer & Director of the Institute for Innovation & Emerging Technologies at Caldwell University. She has pioneered a comprehensive AI leadership framework encompassing strategic planning, faculty development, student engagement, and ethical considerations that align with the university's mission and values. Through the Institute, she advances three strategic pillars—learning innovation, responsible innovation, and workforce innovation—developing a holistic approach to AI integration that touches every aspect of university life from classroom instruction to administrative operations.

Neeraj Kumar is Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Roosevelt University, where he is spearheading a comprehensive campus-wide AI initiative to transform administrative operations. He is leading Roosevelt's strategic deployment of AI-driven solutions across critical university functions—from course scheduling and registration to transcript evaluation and financial aid—aiming to improve the speed and accuracy of information delivery while streamlining workflows for faculty and staff. His data-driven, collaborative approach to AI adoption positions Roosevelt at the forefront of responsible AI integration in higher education.

Dr. Jeffrey Bardzell serves as the Vice Provost for Artificial Intelligence and Chief AI Officer at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He brings a distinctive human-centered computing perspective to AI strategy—emphasizing thoughtful, critical engagement with the technology's societal implications alongside its opportunities. He leads UNC's efforts to prepare students for an AI-ubiquitous world through initiatives spanning AI literacy education, aligning academic work with AI to the university’s public mission, and supporting programs, such as the Library AI Studio that foster responsible experimentation and dialogue across the community.

Christopher Misra serves as the Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He provided executive leadership to the team developing the UMass GenAI Platform, an in-house built platform that allows faculty, staff, and students to explore leading AI models in a secure environment where all data is protected and chats are not used to train external systems. Guided by his philosophy that "AI will only be as powerful as the trust we build around it," he has championed an approach to AI adoption rooted in university values of open inquiry, privacy, and shared learning.

Chris Mattmann serves as UCLA's inaugural Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer—the first such position in the University of California system. He develops strategic roadmaps for AI innovation while establishing governance frameworks to ensure ethical and responsible AI practices are followed across the campus community. He also chairs the UC Systemwide AI Council Sub-Committee on Innovation and Impact. Dr. Mattmann contributed to UCLA's institutional-scale agreement with OpenAI, making UCLA the first California university to incorporate this technology at such scale.

Vincent Del Casino serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at San Jose State University. He spearheaded the creation of the College of Information, Data and Society, the first of its kind in the CSU system, which brings together amazing programs in library and information science and applied data intelligence to prepare students for emerging technology careers. Efforts across the entire campus are also focused on addressing the ethical challenges posed by AI. He has championed campus-wide AI integration, supported student-led initiatives on responsible AI usage, and overseen faculty development programs that embed AI literacy and ethical authorship across disciplines.