Professor Diane Shichtman Named to Second Cohort of SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows 

Second Cohort of Fellows Will Support the Discipline-Specific Exploration and Integration of AI 

State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. recently announced the second cohort of SUNY’s AI for the Public Good Fellows. Empire State University’s Associate Professor Diane Shichtman was named among the 10 other faculty and staff fellows across SUNY. She also served as part of the inaugural cohort of fellows in 2025. The group of fellows are committed to helping their peers responsibly incorporate AI into the student experience.  

“I’m honored to serve as a SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellow for a second year,” said Professor Diane Shichtman. “Last year, I had the opportunity to work with thoughtful, dedicated colleagues from across SUNY, and I’m excited to build on that experience with both returning and new fellows. Together, we can help colleagues across the state prepare our students to understand AI, navigate its challenges, and use it thoughtfully and responsibly.”  

“SUNY is proud to be at the forefront of harnessing AI for the public good, and working to ensure our students are equipped to responsibly utilize artificial intelligence in all fields of study,” said SUNY Chancellor King. “As AI continues to evolve, it is vital our students understand how to use the technology ethically both in their studies, and beyond the classroom. I applaud all of our dedicated faculty and staff members for their work to advance SUNY’s AI excellence.” 

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “SUNY’s AI for the Public Good Fellows serve as a vital resource for our campuses, and students as they work to incorporate AI responsibly and ethically into their studies and courses. We commend this year’s fellows and thank Governor Hochul for her continued investment and support in advancing New York State’s, and SUNY’s AI leadership.” 

Beginning in fall 2026, SUNY’s general education framework has been updated to incorporate AI in the information literacy skills expected of all undergraduate students. In addition, SUNY recently launched a new initiative initially seeking 100 faculty members to participate in a systemwide community of practice that will support faculty to integrate discipline-specific AI-enabled skills in course-level student learning outcomes – which will be supported by the Fellows program. 

The inaugural cohort of SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows, announced in September 2025, provided support for faculty and staff working to incorporate AI literacy into their courses and learning activities. The inaugural cohort assisted campuses in working toward implementation of the Fall 2026 AI literacy update to the existing information literacy core competency in the SUNY general education curriculum. 

The second cohort of SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows will build on the work of the first cohort of fellows to provide professional development resources and opportunities for the incorporation of the effective and ethical use of AI in teaching and learning. For this year, the focus will be on offering support across the system for the discipline-specific exploration and integration of artificial intelligence. This focus acknowledges and responds to the ways artificial intelligence has shaped and continues to shape almost every discipline. The AI for the Public Good Fellows will help SUNY campuses in meeting this challenge.  

The second cohort of SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows: 

• Christopher Badurek, Professor, Geographic Information Systems, SUNY Cortland 

• Jacqueline Bennett, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, SUNY Oneonta 

• Alexis Clifton, Director, Teaching and Learning Center, SUNY Geneseo 

• Daniel Fernandez, Full-time Instructor, Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, Nassau Community College 

• Dave Ghidiu, Associate Professor, Computing Sciences, Finger Lakes Community College 

• Namsook Kim, Clinical Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy, State University of New York at Buffalo 

• Michelle Malinovsky, Associate Professor and Academic Librarian, Coulter Library, Onondaga Community College 

• Darin Mihalik, Instructor, Natural Sciences, Suffolk County Community College 

• Marjorie Lalor Reilly, Associate Professor, Nursing, SUNY Delhi 

• Shyam Sharma, Professor, Writing and Rhetoric, State University of New York at Stony Brook 

• Diane Shichtman, Professor, Computer Science and Technology, Empire State University