Saif Khairat named UNC vice provost and chief AI officer
Saif Khairat named UNC vice provost and chief AI officer
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article316044762.html
Publish Date: 2026-06-09 05:00:00
Source Domain: www.newsobserver.com
Higher Stakes is a weekly newsletter about higher education from The News & Observer and reporter Jane Winik Sartwell.
File images; graphic by Rachel Handley
Hello reader! I’m glad you’re here. I’m Jane Winik Sartwell, higher education reporter for the News & Observer, and this is Higher Stakes, my weekly newsletter. Let’s get into it.
New AI chief + initiatives at UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill has a new chief artificial intelligence officer and vice provost for AI: Saif Khairat, a professor in the nursing school. Khairat will continue to work as a professor as he steps into this new role on campus, which was vacated by Jeff Bardzell in March after just five months on the job.
Khairat is an expert in digital health and AI, according to UNC. He researches health informatics and serves on digital health task forces across the globe. He advises the World Health Organization on its AI policies.
“My focus will be on advancing and integrating AI at Carolina in ways that are responsible, practical, collaborative and true to our mission to serve North Carolina and the public good,” Khairat said in a statement. “I am grateful to Provost [Magnus] Egerstedt for this opportunity, and I am energized by what Carolina will accomplish.”
Meanwhile, UNC is taking on new AI initiatives. Last week, the school launched a two-year study aimed at understanding how North Carolinians are interacting with AI and if local libraries can support AI literacy. Researchers hope to identify local needs and perspectives as well as local institutional capacities and strengths.
“The study is designed…
