Colby Becomes First Liberal Arts College to Establish Major Academic Program in Artificial Intelligence

$30-Million Gift Positions Students to Address Pressing Issues Through AI

WATERVILLE, Maine–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Colby College today announced that it has received a $30-million gift to establish the first cross-disciplinary institute for artificial intelligence (AI) at a liberal arts college. Made possible by the tremendous generosity of the Davis family and trustee of its charitable foundation Andrew Davis ’85, LL.D. ’15, the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence will provide new pathways for talented students and faculty to research, create, and apply AI and machine learning (ML) across disciplines while setting a precedent for how liberal arts colleges can shape the future of AI.

“Andrew Davis and his family have a gift for seeing how the world is evolving and how organizations and individuals must grow and change,” said President David A. Greene. “Their remarkable support has made Colby a global institution, a leading college in the sciences, and one that changes the life outcomes of its students through exceptional internship, research, and international experiences.

“Their newest investment in Colby might just turn out to be the most transformative of all,” he said. “Becoming a prominent center for the teaching and research of artificial intelligence and machine learning allows Colby’s faculty and students to reimagine a liberal arts education for this century and beyond. Importantly, it will ensure that the next generation of leaders will have rich technical expertise, but they will not simply be technocrats. These Colby graduates will be deeply educated in the liberal arts with the powers of discernment to shape AI for the greater good.

“While my gratitude to Andrew and his family is unbounded, I know the greatest thanks that Andrew can receive is to see the Davis Institute flourish and for it to forever change the life trajectory of our students and to better our world in substantive and lasting ways. That’s our commitment to my friend Andrew, who challenges us to reach higher, imagine more, and never settle when it comes to Colby’s relevance and impact.”

The Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which will open this fall following a national search for a founding director, will prepare Colby students for a future where AI is transforming a growing array of industries, careers, and modes of discovery, creativity, and scholarship. Colby students will become and help lead the next generation of programmers and designers who will shape the capacity and influence of AI. They will also be prepared to engage with and build upon that capability through a wide range of applications and to influence policy decisions regarding the social and ethical implications of AI and its uses for the common good.

“Addressing the complex questions surrounding AI requires a holistic analysis and response that can only come from a broad liberal arts perspective,” said Andrew Davis. “With its distinctive tradition of interdisciplinary scholarship, exceptional expertise in the sciences, and strong focus on engaging with the world, Colby is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in preparing students for this incredibly important work, and we’re very pleased to support this important initiative.”

A Novel Approach

Colby’s model allows for AI to become part of the curriculum in nearly all disciplines. The Davis Institute will support the hiring of an initial cohort of six new faculty experts in artificial intelligence in different disciplines, ranging from computer science and genomics to sociology and English literature. The newly recruited faculty members will join a larger community of scholars at Colby currently using AI in their research and teaching, and the Institute-affiliated faculty will continue to grow over time. The Institute will also provide funding to support Colby faculty interested in exploring new ways to incorporate AI tools and methodologies into their teaching and research or for designing new courses to include meaningful learning opportunities with AI.

“The Davis Institute will enable our faculty to transform their scholarship and teaching,” said Margaret McFadden, provost and dean of faculty at Colby. “AI is driving very dramatic shifts in virtually every area of inquiry. These shifts will have profound consequences for quantitative research and teaching across the sciences, social sciences, and the humanities and ultimately offer new routes to discovery. Our educational mission must include preparing students for a future in which AI is ubiquitous, and this Institute will make that possible in a way that no other liberal arts college can do.”

While engineering and technical universities have invested recently in academic AI programs, the reach of AI and ML into nearly all aspects of society demands a broad approach to the subject matter that is tailor-made for the liberal arts. The future leaders of this field will be best served if they have the training to think critically about a range of issues, an appreciation of history, culture, and societies to make judicious choices about the use and impact of AI, and a humanistic lens from which to ensure that AI will be both developed and used to high ethical standards.

The Davis Institute will build upon existing partnerships and develop new relationships with leading organizations and institutions to facilitate significant faculty and student research using rich datasets with real-world consequences and to provide students with broad-ranging opportunities for internships. It will also create a summer program for visiting faculty and students to work on AI projects and to develop courses and research projects that can be shared at their home institutions. In these ways, the Davis Institute will become a national center for training faculty and students in the use of AI and the creation of new systems and capabilities.

Transformational Support

For decades, through the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, the Davis family has contributed generously to the evolution of the academic and cocurricular experience at Colby, and the Davis Institute builds on this tradition of leadership. With Andrew Davis’s support, his family provided a $25-million gift in 2017 to create DavisConnects, Colby’s innovative model for post-graduate success, as well as a $10-million lead gift in 2013 to construct the Davis Science Center on Colby’s campus. In 2000 the Davis family selected Colby as one of five partner institutions to pilot the Davis United World College Scholars Program (UWC), which funded UWC graduates’ attendance at Colby and continues to make a profound impact at the College.

Mr. Davis is President of Davis Selected Advisors and has more than 30 years of experience in investment management. Andrew Davis’s commitment to Colby has included serving on the College’s Board of Trustees from 1996 to 1999 and on the Board of Visitors from 1999 to 2006. He has volunteered for Colby’s admissions office, sponsored student internships, and created a scholarship fund in 2004.

Colby College

Founded in 1813, Colby is one of America’s most selective colleges. Serving only undergraduates, Colby offers a rigorous academic program rooted in deep exploration of ideas and close interaction with world-class faculty scholars. Students pursue intellectual passions, choosing among 58 majors or developing their own. Colby’s innovative and ambitious campaign, Dare Northward, is supporting deeper connections between the college and the world as well as a fully inclusive experience for all Colby students. Colby is home to a community of 2,000 dedicated and diverse students from more than 80 countries. Its Waterville, Maine, location provides unique access to world-class research institutions and civic engagement experiences.

Contacts

George Sopko, Director of Media Relations, Colby College

gtsopko@colby.edu