MBZUAI appoints Professor Timothy Baldwin as the university's provost

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 1, 2024: Professor Timothy Baldwin has been appointed as the Provost of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI).

Professor Timothy Baldwin is a distinguished figure in the field of natural language processing (NLP), renowned globally for his ground-breaking contributions. Having served as the Department Chair of the NLP Department, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, and Acting Provost, Professor Baldwin has played an indispensable role in the rapid advancement of MBZUAI during the past two years.

During his tenure, Professor Baldwin has spearheaded numerous initiatives that have significantly contributed to MBZUAI's growth and reputation. Some of his notable accomplishments include the establishment of three new academic departments namely robotics, computer science, and statistics and data science, broadening the university's academic purview; recruiting 25 new faculty members, more than doubling the size of the university; overseeing the accreditation of new M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in computer science and robotics, while leading the development of a new department in statistics and data science, and developing a comprehensive employability strategy, ensuring that MBZUAI graduates are well-equipped to excel in their professional endeavors.

Professor Baldwin also co-led the technical development of Jais, the world's leading Arabic large language model (LLM), showcasing MBZUAI's commitment to advancing AI technologies with global relevance, and designed and managed the inaugural cohort of the highly successful Undergraduate Research Internship Program (UGRIP), providing students with invaluable research experience.

Alongside his administrative responsibilities, Professor Baldwin has maintained an exemplary academic record, publishing 23 papers in 2023 alone and receiving awards at prestigious conferences such as European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL) 2023 and *SEM 2023, further solidifying his reputation as a leading authority in the field of NLP.

“We are confident that Professor Timothy Baldwin's leadership, dedication, and expertise will continue to propel MBZUAI to new heights of excellence. His appointment as Provost brings an exciting chapter for our university, and we look forward to the continued growth and success with his guidance,” said Professor Eric Xing, MBZUAI’s President and University Professor.

"I am delighted to formally take on this position, and work alongside the current and future generation of AI frontrunners in leading the academic development of this truly unique institution and contribute to establishing Abu Dhabi as a global leader of AI,” Professor Baldwin said.