UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sharon Huang, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), is the new holder of the David Reese Professorship of Information Sciences and Technology, effective Aug. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.
The professorship was established in 1999 with a generous gift from David Reese, who earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Penn State in 1978 and was an original member of the College of IST Dean’s Advisory Board. The endowment aims to provide the resources necessary to continue and further the recipient’s contributions to teaching, research and public service. The professorship was previously held for 24 years by C. Lee Giles, who retired on June 30.
“The David Reese Professorship is one of the most prestigious endowed professorships in IST, and I feel extremely honored to be appointed,” Huang said. “With the additional resources from the esteemed professorship, I hope to expand my research program in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in exploring the emotional intelligence of AI, privacy and security of data use in AI and translating my previous work in biomedical AI into practice. These resources will allow me to support graduate assistants in exploring these exciting areas and generate preliminary results to help secure external grants for further research.”
Huang joined the college as a tenured associate professor in July 2018 and was promoted to full professor in 2022. Most recently — from July 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024 — she has served as IST’s first associate dean for undergraduate studies.
“Sharon is a superstar and well-deserving of this honor,” said Andrea Tapia, dean of the College of IST. “Her work will continue to position Penn State as a leader in AI research and, ultimately, make the world a better place.”
Huang earned her bachelor of engineering degree in computer science from Tsinghua University in China and her master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from Rutgers University. She is also a member of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State.