A $1.25 million gift from longtime Cornell donors James and Rebecca Morgan will fund a new artificial intelligence fellows program aimed at transforming how Cornell University approaches administration, operations and workforce development.
University officials announced Thursday that the three-year grant will support the launch of the Workplace Innovation and Impact Team, or WIT, Seed Funding Program as part of Cornell’s broader AI Initiative.
The program will focus on building AI literacy across the university while developing new tools and operational strategies centered on responsible AI adoption in higher education.
Cornell said the initiative will be overseen through the university’s AI leadership team led by Provost Kavita Bala and Vice Provost for AI Strategy Thorsten Joachims.
The WIT program will be co-led by Ayham Boucher, executive director of AI strategy and innovation for Cornell Information Technologies; Kathryn Burkgren, associate vice president for organizational development and effectiveness; and Cornell Chief Information Officer Ben Maddox.
The initiative plans to recruit six to eight early-career fellows annually, along with adjunct AI leaders, to work on university projects involving AI-enabled administration and operations.
Cornell officials said fellows will rotate through one- to three-year assignments focused on practical AI applications, process improvements and operational efficiency projects across the university.
The first year of the program will focus on planning, recruitment and the launch of an AI “sandbox” environment designed to allow staff and students to safely experiment with emerging AI tools and technologies.
“Cornell is fortunate to have strong leaders at a critical time,” donor James C. Morgan said in a statement announcing the gift. “I see an opportunity to build a culture of skilled management enabled by innovation to propel the university forward.”
University leaders said the effort is intended to emphasize a “human-centered” approach to AI adoption, pairing workforce training with hands-on project experience rather than relying solely on classroom instruction.
“The hands-on experience that this gift will allow is the best type of AI literacy training,” Boucher said. “They will learn where AI shines and where it fails in their specific domains.”
According to Cornell, the program’s second and third years will focus on expanding the fellowship cohort and building long-term sustainability plans for AI workforce development initiatives.
The Morgans have long supported Cornell through philanthropy and university leadership roles. Both are emeritus members of Cornell Silicon Valley Advisors, and Rebecca Morgan previously served as a Cornell trustee.
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