Two of UVM’s three 2024-2025 University Scholars will present their public lectures in early May. 

The University Scholars Awards recognize distinguished UVM faculty members for sustained excellence in research and creative and scholarly activities in two categories: Social Sciences, Humanities, Creative Arts; and Basic and Applied Sciences (including biological, medical, and physical sciences). The award is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Graduate College.

The 2024-2025 University Scholars, named last May, are Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Christopher Danforth, Professor of Computer Science Joshua Bongard, and Professor of Education Jessica Strolin-Goltzman.

 Christopher Danforth will lecture on "Computational Social Science at UVM: The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS) Project & Lived Experiences Measured Using Rings Study (LEMURS)" May 5 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. at Memorial Lounge in the Waterman Building.

Joshua Bongard’s lecture, titled "AI-Designed Organisms," will be presented May 6, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. in Memorial Lounge.

Dr. Danforth is an expert in extensive data analysis and complex systems. He co-developed the Complex Systems Graduate Program. His research develops algorithms to predict and understand the intersection between human behavior and social media. He is the co-inventor of the “Hedonometer,” which gathers tweets on X (formerly Twitter) to sample the mood of the world population. Such extensive data analysis has resulted in organizations such as Gallup and The Economist seeking his advice on issues of the day. He has previously been a recipient of the Kroepsch-Maurice Teaching Award.

Dr. Bongard is an expert in machine science and artificial intelligence, with its application to evolutionary robotics. Most impressive is his design of xenobots, living robots made of frog eggs that become programmable cells that perform desired functions. He has published regularly in such journals as Science, Nature, and PNAS, and he received the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize for the most outstanding PNAS publication in engineering and applied sciences. He is also the recipient of a National Science Foundation Presidential CAREER Award.