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Martha Pollack

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Martha Elizabeth Pollack (born August 27, 1958)[1] is an American computer scientist who served as the 14th president of Cornell University from April 2017 to June 2024. From 2013 to 2017, she was the 14th provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan.[2][3]

Martha Pollack
Pollack in 2017
14th President of Cornell University
In office
April 17, 2017 – June 30, 2024
Preceded byElizabeth Garrett
Succeeded byMichael Kotlikoff (Interim)
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of Michigan
In office
2013–2017
Preceded byPhilip J. Hanlon
Succeeded byMartin Philbert
Personal details
Born
Martha Elizabeth Pollack

(1958-08-27) August 27, 1958 (age 66)
Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
SpouseKen Gottschlich
EducationDartmouth College (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MA, PhD)
Academic background
ThesisInferring domain plans in question-answering (1986)
Doctoral advisorBonnie Webber
Academic work
DisciplineArtificial intelligence
Institutions

Pollack's research specialty is artificial intelligence, where her contributions include works in planning, natural language processing, and activity recognition for cognitive assistance.[2][4] She also serves on the board of directors of IBM.[5]

Early life and education

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Pollack was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on August 27, 1958. In 1979, she completed her undergraduate studies in linguistics at Dartmouth College.[2] She earned master's and doctoral degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania, completing her Ph.D. in 1986 under joint supervision of Bonnie Webber and Barbara J. Grosz.[2][6][7] Pollack is Jewish.[8]

Career

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Pollack worked at SRI International from 1985 to 1992. In 1991, shew was a IJCAI Computers and Thought Award recipient.[2][9] Since 1996, she has been a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Since 2012, she was a fellow at the Association for Computing Machinery and American Association for the Advancement of Science.[2][10][11][12][13]

From 1991 to 2000, she was on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. In 1997, she became program chair of the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence.[2][14]

University of Michigan

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In 2000, Pollack joined the faculty of the University of Michigan.[15] She became dean of the School of Information at the University of Michigan in 2007, Vice Provost of the university in 2010, and Provost in 2013.[2]

From 2001 to 2005, she was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research[2][16] and president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence from 2009 to 2010.[2][17]

Cornell University

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Pollack at Cornell University's 2021 commencement

On November 14, 2016, the Board of Trustees of Cornell University announced that they had unanimously elected Pollack as Cornell University’s 14th president. Her presidency began April 17, 2017,[18] and she was inaugurated on August 25, 2017.[19][20]

In 2022, Pollack was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[21][22]

As Cornell president, Pollack made changes to Greek Life on campus, banning hard alcohol at fraternity and sorority events, suspending chapters suspected of hazing, and requiring a full-time live-in advisor for each fraternity and sorority house.[23] Following widespread criticism of Cornell's culture and lack of support for students with mental health needs, she introduced plans to improve mental health services on campus.[24] She rejected calls from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for Cornell to boycott investments in Israel.[25]

In January 2024, Pollack came under scrutiny by Jason Smith, chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee for the university's response to anti-semitism.[26]

On May 9, 2024, she announced her decision to retire as Cornell University president, effective June 30, 2024.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Steecker, Matt; Platsky, Jeff (November 15, 2016). "Martha Pollack named 14th Cornell president". The Ithaca Journal.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Martha E. Pollack Archived 2017-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Office of the Provost, University of Michigan, and Curriculum vitae Archived 2017-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, both retrieved 2015-06-14.
  3. ^ University of Michigan Provost and Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs. "Provost and Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs (University of Michigan) Supplemental Files". University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  4. ^ Martha Pollack publications indexed by Google Scholar  
  5. ^ "IBM Elects Martha E. Pollack to its Board of Directors". IBM News Room. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  6. ^ Martha Pollack at the Mathematics Genealogy Project  
  7. ^ Pollack, Martha Elizabeth (1986). Inferring domain plans in question-answering (theory action, intentions, discourse, common sense reasoning) (Ph.D.). University of Pennsylvania. OCLC 256348876. ProQuest 303509615.
  8. ^ Harrison, Donald H. (May 9, 2024). "Jewish President of Cornell Martha Pollack Suddenly Announces Retirement". San Diego Jewish World. Archived from the original on 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  9. ^ "IJCAI-15 Awards Announcement". International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  10. ^ AAAI Fellows, retrieved 2015-04-16.
  11. ^ ACM Fellow award citation, retrieved 2015-04-16.
  12. ^ Martha Pollack Named Fellow of AAAS, ACM, EECS, Univ. of Michigan, retrieved 2015-06-14.
  13. ^ AAAS Members Elected as Fellows, AAAS, December 6, 2011, retrieved 2015-06-14.
  14. ^ IJCAI-97 Officials, retrieved 2015-06-14.
  15. ^ University, Carnegie Mellon. "Martha E. Pollack - The Inauguration of Farnam Jahanian - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  16. ^ JAIR History Archived 2018-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2015-04-16.
  17. ^ Past AAAI Officials, retrieved 2015-06-14.
  18. ^ "Martha E. Pollack, provost at Michigan, named 14th president". Cornell Chronicle. November 14, 2016.
  19. ^ Mediak, Gabrielle (August 25, 2017). "Thousands attend Cornell University's 14th presidential inauguration". Spectrum News. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  20. ^ Butler, Matt (August 25, 2017). "Martha Pollack inaugurated as Cornell's newest president". Ithaca.com. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  21. ^ "Pollack, Pape elected to arts and sciences academy". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  22. ^ "New Members - Elected in 2022". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  23. ^ Arora, Girisha (May 4, 2018). "Online Scorecard, No Hard Alcohol Among Greek Life Reforms Introduced by Pollack". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  24. ^ Arora, Girisha (November 13, 2018). "Pollack Says Greek Reforms 'On-Track,' Addresses Mental Health on Campus". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  25. ^ "Cornell president rejects BDS, refuting student group's push to divest from Israel". Jewish News Syndicate. March 13, 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  26. ^ Egan, Matt (January 10, 2024). "House takes aim at Harvard, MIT and UPenn's tax-exempt status over antisemitism | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  27. ^ Lefkowitz, Melanie (May 9, 2024). "After 'transformational' tenure, Pollack to retire June 30". news.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
Academic offices
Preceded by 14th President of Cornell University
2017 – present 		Incumbent
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