AI Expert Pavithra Prabhakar Named To UNM’s Endowed Chair

Photo: UNM News

India-West News Desk

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The University of New Mexico School of Engineering has appointed Pavithra Prabhakar as the inaugural Cleve Moler and MathWorks Endowed Chair in Mathematical and Engineering Software. Prabhakar, a distinguished researcher and academic, will join the Department of Computer Science in December, coming from Kansas State University.

The new endowed chair strengthens UNM’s focus on artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, cyber-physical systems, and robotics — areas that align closely with Prabhakar’s research on trust in AI-enabled systems.

“We are delighted to welcome Professor Pavithra Prabhakar as our inaugural MathWorks Endowed Chair,” said Shuang Luan, acting chair of the Department of Computer Science. “Her expertise will further enhance the department’s strengths in AI, autonomous systems, cyber-physical systems, and robotics.”

Prabhakar said she is honored to hold a chair recognizing Cleve Moler, the founder of MathWorks and a pioneer in mathematical and engineering software. “His work has had a lasting impact on how we approach computing in science and engineering, and I’m proud to be associated with a position that reflects that legacy,” she said.

Her career includes serving for three years as a program director at the National Science Foundation, where she managed a research portfolio exceeding $100 million. Prabhakar holds a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s in Computer Science and Automation from the Indian Institute of Science, and a bachelor’s degree from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal.

Prabhakar plans to leverage her cross-disciplinary expertise to collaborate with UNM faculty and nearby national laboratories to build a strong research and education program in trustworthy AI and autonomy.