New awards recognize innovative AI use by CU faculty
Avatars that engage medical students in on-demand opportunities to practice screening patients for depression or delivering difficult diagnoses. Scalable and scientifically accurate infrastructures that simulate varying climates or predict the weather. Immersive environments that offer hands-on workforce training for the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
These are just a handful of the innovative ways CU faculty systemwide are incorporating artificial intelligence into their classrooms and in their creative and scholarly work. They were among 21 projects honored at the inaugural President’s AI Recognition Awards held May 5 in CU Denver’s Student Commons Building. The newly minted annual awards were given to faculty for their work in two categories: Teaching & Learning, and Scholarly & Creative Work.
“I’ve wanted to find a way to recognize and build community around our faculty’s innovative use of AI across our campuses for a while now,” President Todd Saliman told faculty at the event. “I appreciate the depth, rigor and scholarly approach each of you has taken, all of which reinforce the contributions AI can bring to CU’s academic enterprise when used well.”
After congratulating faculty on their work, Saliman learned more about the projects during a poster session at the event.
Finalists for the 2026 AI Recognition Awards in each of the two categories were selected by separate advisory committees consisting of scholars from all four campuses. After reviewing proposals, the committees submitted their recommendations to the president, who then selected the award winners. Eligible nominees for the scholarly and creative work category include full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty and full-time research professor track faculty. Eligible nominees for the teaching and learning category include tenured and tenure-track faculty and full-time instructional track faculty. This year’s award recipients received a one-time honorarium of $4,000. The 2027 call for nominations will be announced in the fall.
See below for the list of winners of the 2026 AI Recognition Awards. To learn more about the awards, visit the Office of Academic Affairs website.
Teaching & Learning Awards
CU Boulder
Bobby Hodgkinson, M.S., Smead Aerospace Engineering
Nesrine Mansour, Ph.D., Environmental Design
Teresa Nugent, Ph.D., English
Diane Sieber, Ph.D., Herbst Program of Engineering, Ethics & Society
UCCS
Kristen Walcott, Ph.D., Computer Science
Dayna Herbert Walker, Ph.D., College of Business
CU Denver
Zhengxiong Li, Ph.D., Computer Science and Engineering
Robyn Mobbs, Ph.D., School of Public Affairs
CU Anschutz
Clint Carlson, M.S., Psychiatry Chaitanya Puranik, Ph.D., MDS, Pediatric Dentistry
Scholarly & Creative Work Awards
CU Boulder
William Chapman, Ph.D., Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Kai Larsen, Ph.D., Leeds School of Business
Esther Rolf, Ph.D., Computer Science
Keith Ulmer, Ph.D., Physics
UCCS
Byeong Kil Lee, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering
CU Denver
Ersin Dincelli, Ph.D., School of Business
Zhengxiong Li, Ph.D., Computer Science and Engineering
CU Anschutz
Aimee Gardner, Ph.D., Surgery
Arjun Krishnan, Ph.D., Biomedical Informatics
Shyam Raghavan, M.D., Pathology
Fuyong Xing, Ph.D., Biostatistics and Informatics