Building an AI Hub at the Graduate Center

In this episode of The Thought Project, CUNY Graduate Center Dean for the Sciences Brian R. Gibney discusses how the Graduate Center is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution. Gibney outlines the transformative impact of the Simons Foundation’s historic $75 million gift, including $50 million to launch the Martin S. Spergel Initiative in Computational Sciences at the Graduate Center. The initiative supports five interdisciplinary cluster hires from computational biology to urban AI and will bring 25 new faculty across CUNY into Graduate Center–affiliated programs. Gibney also describes plans for a new master’s program in Computational Sciences, expected to launch in fall 2027, which will train students for emerging AI-driven fields. He highlights the Graduate Center’s role in Empire AI, a statewide consortium building a powerful supercomputer for AI research, and emphasizes the collaborative strengths of the Graduate Center and its Advanced Science Research Center in driving ethical, cross-disciplinary innovation.