AI-Focused Bharat Professorship New to WashU

A new professorship has been created at Washington University in St. Louis. The role, made possible by a gift from Kavita and Krishna Bharat, will focus on artificial intelligence and design and hold a joint appointment between the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the McKelvey School of Engineering.

“The Bharat Professorship will allow us to recruit a faculty member specializing in AI who is also deeply invested in advancing architecture, art, and design, preparing students to address advanced technologies in their fields,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Sam Fox School’s Ralph J. Nagel Dean. “I am grateful for the enormous generosity and vision of Krishna and Kavita.”

Krishna Bharat is a distinguished research scientist at Google. He came to WashU last April as part of the Sam Fox School and McKelvey’s AI + Design mini-symposium, which opened discussions and shared insights around the trajectory and future of artificial intelligence.

During his keynote address, Bharat noted that the “AI juggernaut has been building for the last ten years, and it’s only the beginning.” He went on to note that the goal of AI shouldn’t be to replace human input, but rather to “harness the power of human creativity and empower design professionals of the future.”

Bharat and his wife, Kavita, are also the parents of recent architecture graduate Meera Bharat, AB ’23.

Additional support for the position is possible through the McKelvey Challenge Grant.

The Sam fox School and McKelvey School of Engineering are now accepting applications and nominations for the professorship.

Learn more about the professorship here.