UCI Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems associate director Padhraic Smyth has been appointed the inaugural Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence. Prof. Smyth’s significant contributions to AI over his distinguished career include the development of theories and algorithms for machine learning, with a particular emphasis on statistical methods that have set the foundation for transformative advances across diverse fields such as climate science, medicine, and digital humanities. A generous contribution from SAP enabled the establishment of this endowed chair.