Renu Balyan Appointed To SUNY AI Literacy Leadership Role

India-West Staff Reporter

SUNY Old Westbury Assistant Professor Renu Balyan has been named to the State University of New York’s inaugural class of AI for the Public Good Fellows, recognizing her extensive research in deep learning and computational tools alongside 19 other faculty members across the SUNY system.

This new program designates fellows as system-wide experts to help faculty and staff integrate AI literacy into classrooms, supporting SUNY’s broader goal to include the ethical use of artificial intelligence in undergraduate general education requirements by Fall 2026.

Dr. Balyan’s work spans natural language processing, data mining, machine learning, and deep learning, focusing on developing tools for health and education. She stated her aim is to build on her research to create learning experiences where students engage with AI critically and ethically for equity and community impact.

SUNY Chancellor John King announced the class, emphasizing the need for AI competence across disciplines so every student obtains this essential core competency. Since 2020, Dr. Balyan has been a principal investigator or collaborator on several National Science Foundation–funded projects, including studies on privacy-preserving tutoring.

SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy E. Sams noted that through this appointment, Dr. Balyan can share her career expertise statewide while advancing the ethical and professional development of SUNY students.

Balyan earned her Ph.D. in machine translation evaluation from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.