Empire AI appoints five new members to board of directors

Board Appoints Representatives from New Member Institutions, Including University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology & Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai

Empire AI Welcomes Renowned National AI Thought Leaders Kim Hazelwood & Howard Morgan as At-Large Board Members

Empire AI today announced the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors, bringing in representatives from new member institutions as well as nationally recognized experts and thought leaders in the development of AI. Empire AI’s board now stands at 16 members, including 14 voting members and two advisory members—fully satisfying the composition and size requirements mandated by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature when the consortium was created.

“These new board members represent a remarkable combination of technical and academic expertise, research excellence, and strategic leadership. We’re thrilled to welcome them at such a critical time in Empire AI’s development and value the insight they’ll bring,” said Empire AI Interim Executive Director Robert Harrison. “With the leadership of our board and the support of Governor Hochul and the state legislature, Empire AI is well-positioned to lead the nation in AI-focused academic research for the public good.”

The new members include:

• Dr. Kim Hazelwood (At-Large Board Member)
  A globally recognized leader in AI infrastructure and systems architecture, Dr. Hazelwood brings over 20 years of experience spanning academia, national laboratories, and leadership roles at Meta, Intel, and Yahoo Labs. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and served on advisory councils for the NSF, National Academy of Sciences, and the Computing Research Association.
• Dr. Howard Morgan (At-Large Board Member)
  Dr. Morgan is a pioneer in computing and venture capital. He is the co-founder of Renaissance Technologies and First Round Capital and currently serves as Chairman of B Capital Group. With a Ph.D. in operations research from Cornell, he has decades of experience bridging scientific innovation and entrepreneurship and has served on more than 30 public and private boards.
• Dr. Stephen Dewhurst (University of Rochester)
  Dr. Dewhurst is Vice President for Research at the University of Rochester. He is an expert on pathogenic human viruses, notably HIV, and has 49 patents or copatents to his name. An award-winning mentor, he oversees the university’s research enterprise while also playing a key role in expanding Rochester’s innovation economy, particularly in data science and biomedical AI.
• Dr. Venu Govindaraju (University at Buffalo)
  Dr. Govindaraju is Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University at Buffalo and a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. A fellow of NAI, ACM, IEEE, IAPR, and AAAS, his groundbreaking work in handwriting recognition and machine learning has led to major real-world applications of AI. He also leads critical initiatives around innovation, entrepreneurship, and AI infrastructure at UB. Three decades later, his innovations continue to shape industries. As principal investigator for the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, Govindaraju is at the forefront of AI for good.
• Dr. Girish Nadkarni (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
  Dr. Nadkarni is the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine, director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health, the Chair of the Windreich Department of AI and Human Health and Chief AI Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System. He has authored 410 peer-reviewed research and 61 invited papers (45,000+ citations, h-index 95). His work spans predictive AI, AI safety in healthcare and multimodal AI diagnostics. He holds numerous patents, co-founded FDA-cleared AI startups, leads $45M+ in funded research, and has received several national and international awards.

New Empire AI member institutions include the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They join founding members SUNY, CUNY, Columbia University, Cornell University, NYU, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute. This expansion strengthens Empire AI’s collaborative model—creating economies of scale and enabling cross-institutional breakthroughs not possible at individual universities.

Hazelwood, Morgan, Dewhurst, Govindaraju, and Nadkarni join Empire AI at a pivotal moment in its growth. The organization recently launched Beta, a next-generation AI supercomputing system powered by NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, and the project is on track to complete its permanent facility on the University at Buffalo campus by the end of 2026.

Empire AI is the first consortium of its kind in the nation—a partnership of public and private research institutions advancing AI research for the public good and benefiting communities across New York. In addition to significant financial support from each member institution, Empire AI is backed by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, with major capital funding provided through the FY26 budget. The initiative is also supported philanthropically by the Simons Foundation and Tom Secunda.

For more information about Empire AI, visit empireai.edu.

About Empire AI

Empire AI is a bold partnership of New York’s leading public and private universities to establish a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence computing center, housed at SUNY’s University at Buffalo. The consortium includes Columbia University, Cornell University, CUNY, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY, and the Flatiron Institute, as well as philanthropic backers including Tom Secunda and the Simons Foundation. Empire AI is pioneering safe, equitable, and accessible AI research and development that benefits every corner of New York.