SUNY Chancellor King Announces Inaugural Class of the SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows

September 18, 2025

Fellows Include 20 SUNY Faculty and Staff Across Disciplines Ranging from Health Sciences to Sustainable Resources Management

The Inaugural Class will Help SUNY Update the Gen Ed Information Literacy Core Competency to Reflect Emerging Technologies

Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today announced the inaugural class of SUNY's AI for the Public Good Fellows. The 20 SUNY faculty and staff fellows are experts in their fields of study – ranging from health sciences to sustainable resources management to English.

The AI for the Public Good Fellows will be a resource to SUNY's colleges and universities by providing targeted support for faculty and staff working to update courses and learning activities to incorporate AI literacy, including the effective and ethical use of AI and teaching students to critically evaluate AI-generated content. SUNY updated its general education requirements for undergraduates to incorporate the skills to ethically use artificial intelligence into the existing information literacy core competency. This update – along with a new general education core competency in civil discourse – will be implemented by Fall 2026.

"As artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are further engrained in everything we do, SUNY is making sure every student has this essential core competency within our excellent academic curriculum," said SUNY Chancellor King. "We are all bombarded with information from all directions, with varying degrees of authenticity, and SUNY will equip every student with the skills to recognize what is true, and how to ethically use AI in their studies and in the world."

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "It is crucial SUNY students and faculty have the skills to responsibly and ethically use AI technology as it becomes more embedded into our everyday lives. The inaugural class of SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows will help ensure SUNY is well-equipped for the future of AI and help cement New York State as a leader in the technology. We thank Governor Hochul for her continued efforts to advance New York State's leadership in AI research for the public good." 

The inaugural SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows include:

  • Sam Abramovich, University at Buffalo - Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Education
  • Renu Balyan, SUNY Old Westbury - Assistant Professor, Mathematics, Computer & Information Sciences
  • Alexis Clifton, SUNY Geneseo - Director of the Teaching and Learning Center
  • Lauren DeLaubell, SUNY Cortland - Librarian; Information Literacy/Instruction Coordinator
  • Babette Faehmel, SUNY Schenectady - Professor, Liberal Arts
  • Jing Betty Feng, Farmingdale State College - Professor, Business Management
  • Daniel Fernandez, Nassau Community College - Full-Time Instructor, Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts
  • Dana Gavin, Dutchess Community College - Director, Writing Center
  • Allison Hosier, University at Albany - Librarian, Head of Information Literacy, University Libraries
  • Jonathon Little, Monroe Community College, - Professor, Chemistry and Geosciences
  • Michelle Malinovsky, Onondaga Community College - Associate Professor, Academic Librarian, Coulter Library
  • Shayan Mirzabeigi, SUNY ESF - Assistant Professor, Sustainable Resources Management
  • Vikram Pagpatan, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences - Associate Professor, School of Health Professions-Occupational Therapy 
  • Rachel E. Rigolino, SUNY New Paltz - Lecturer, English
  • Steven M. Schneider, SUNY Polytechnic Institute - Professor, Communications & Humanities
  • Shyam Sharma, Stony Brook University - Associate Professor, Writing and Rhetoric
  • Diane Shichtman, Empire State University -  Associate Professor, Computer Science and Technology
  • Johnny Stein, Jamestown Community College - Associate Professor, Humanities; English Composition
  • Mohammad H Tajvarpour, SUNY Oswego - Associate Professor, Marketing and Management
  • Shawna Taylor, SUNY Oneonta - Assistant Professor, Elementary Education and Reading

SUNY is at the forefront of AI innovation, research, and responsibility. Major SUNY initiatives include:

  • Empire AI is Governor's Hochul's first-of-its-kind independent consortium to secure New York's place at the forefront of artificial intelligence research for the public good. EmpireAI centers on an over $550M public-private investment in supercomputing capacity. Faculty members and students at SUNY's four University Centers and other leading New York State public and private universities are using Empire AI – housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) – to solve major societal challenges.
  • Departments of AI and Society were established across eight SUNY campuses to develop departments, centers, and institutes of AI and Society to engage diverse disciplines and communities, broaden AI development to prepare students for the future, and advance the use of AI for the public good, thanks to $5 million in annual support championed by Governor Hochul.
  • SUNY has updated its General Education Framework core competency in information literacy in order to reflect the rise of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. As a result of this change, students will develop skills to evaluate information from a variety of sources, with an awareness of authority, validity, bias, and origin, and demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination.
  • The Chancellor's Summer Research Excellence Fund has provided paid research internships, including research dedicated to the use of AI for the public good, to nearly 750 undergraduate students since the program began three years ago.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Committee on Higher Education said, "Artificial intelligence is already in our classrooms and workplaces, and its impact on society will be transformative in ways that we can only imagine. The AI for the Public Good Fellows will help SUNY meet that moment by updating courses, strengthening information, civil discourse, and guiding students on all aspects of AI responsibility. I appreciate Chancellor King's leadership as well as the faculty for their contribution to this program." 

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Chair of the Internet and Technology Committee said, "Embracing technological innovation involves the responsibility of ensuring that technology, like artificial intelligence, serves the public good. These new AI for the Public Good Fellows will lead the charge and work to bring AI into higher education ethically and effectively. Thank you to SUNY for making this program a priority and for building an educational system that provides all students with the tools to succeed."

Assemblymember Steve Otis, Chair of the Assembly Science and Technology Committee said, "With the rapid availability of AI tools in education, business, research, and government comes the need to understand the AI tools one considers for use and to have the human expertise to make wise judgments on AI use. SUNY has recognized the importance of expertise as AI becomes incorporated in academic life. Congratulations to the SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows for the important role they will play in assisting SUNY in ethical, responsible, and effective use of AI for the Public Good. Congratulations also go to Governor Kathy Hochul, Chancellor John King, and the SUNY Board of Trustees, for their focus on bringing care and quality to AI expansion at SUNY."

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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