UM Joins Regional Universities to Create Mid-South AI Consortium
Partnership aims to expand artificial intelligence research and workforce, industry collaboration
OXFORD, Miss. – With the signing of a new regional agreement today (April 20), ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø is joining forces with partner institutions to position the Mid-South as a national hub for applied artificial intelligence research.
Representatives of Ole Miss, the the and the gathered in Memphis to formally announce the Mid-South AI Research Consortium.
"AI is rapidly reshaping the research landscape, and the time to be thoughtful and strategic is now," UM Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "At Ole Miss, we have dynamic faculty across a wide range of disciplines, and this collaborative effort will enhance our ability to pursue meaningful research, to innovate and to spur the economy of our region.
"We're grateful to our partner universities in this endeavor and looking forward to working together to advance innovation in AI."
The consortium was designed to facilitate partnerships between more than 300 researchers working in AI-related fields across the four institutions. Initial efforts will focus on five areas of need:
- Health care
- Supply chains
- Energy
- Agriculture
- National defense.
"By working together, our universities can help establish the region as a leader in AI innovation while strengthening key industries, preparing students for success in the workforce and improving lives across the Mid-South and beyond," University of Arkansas Chancellor Charles Robinson said.
The Mid-South has already attracted significant investment in AI data centers, said Jasbir Dhaliwal, executive vice president for research and innovation at the University of Memphis.
"This collaboration involving several hundred Ph.D.-trained AI research scientists and scholars at four Carnegie R1 universities anchors the new 'Digital Delta' by providing the soft creative brain trust for applied AI efforts," he said. "It positions our tri-state region as a strong national hub for the exponential growth of AI, both as a science and economic development engine."
Creating multi-institutional teams will also make the region more competitive for major national grants and offer more opportunities for students at each of the institutions, said John C. Higginbotham, UM vice chancellor of research and economic development.
"The Mid-South already has strong universities, key industries and real-world challenges that need to be solved," he said. "This partnership allows us to combine those strengths and do more together than we could alone.
"Beyond research, the consortium is an investment in people. It creates new pathways for students and professionals to develop high-demand skills in artificial intelligence while contributing to projects that will have a tangible impact across our region."
Top: UM Chancellor Glenn Boyce (seated, second from left) celebrates with representatives from the University of Arkansas, University of Memphis and University of Tennessee Health Science Center after signing the MidSouth AI Research Consortium agreement on Monday (April 20) at the Fedex Institute of Technology in Memphis. Photo by Matthew A. Smith/University of Memphis