Wilson H. Elkins Professorships Support Research Initiatives in Adaptive Human-Al Teaming, Sustainability, and Law and Colonial Power

New Elkins Academic Transformation awards support the integration of Generative AI to advance and illuminate academic transformation

Baltimore, MD (September 24, 2025) – The 2025-26 University System of Maryland (USM) Wilson H. Elkins Professorships have been awarded to faculty members at three USM institutions—Bowie State University; the University of Maryland, College Park.; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Carey School of Law.

In addition, Elkins Academic Transformation Professorships that support the integration of Generative AI to advance and illuminate academic transformation will be awarded to faculty members at Towson University; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the University of Maryland Global Campus.

The Elkins Professorships support professors and researchers who demonstrate exemplary ability to inspire students and whose professional work and scholarly endeavors make a positive impact at their institutions, across the USM, and beyond. In support of the Elkins Professorships, the Wilson H. Elkins Endowment funds are intended to support compelling projects with a focus on research, scholarship, or community engagement that will allow the Elkins Professor to make an important contribution to the teaching, research, or public service mission of the institution and the entire USM.

The Wilson H. Elkins Professorship
Candidates for the Elkins Professorship must possess a solid record of achievement in their academic or professional disciplines; demonstrate a desire and ability to lead and inspire undergraduate and graduate students; show significant achievement beyond their traditional disciplines; and demonstrate ability and intent to pursue scholarly or professional endeavors beyond USM. This year's award winners are listed below, by professor and home institution:
 
  • Dr. Darsana Josyula, Professor, Department of Computer Science at Bowie State University (BSU).  Dr. Josyula will establish a Collaborative Hub for Adaptive Human-Al Teaming, anchored at BSU through the Autonomous Technologies Lab, that integrates cutting-edge research, student internships, faculty collaboration, and STEM outreach. This project will expand student-led innovation, regional workforce development, and equitable access to Al research and education.  Dr. Josyula has received a $52,500 award.
  • Dr. Elisabeth Smela, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. The award supports the rollout of a broadly accessible certificate program focused on sustainability in collaboration with the UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center and the Office of Sustainability and the development of a searchable database of sustainability-related assignments across a variety of disciplines and fields, curated and recommended by an AI concierge. Dr. Smela received a $80,000 award. ($40,000 per year/this is year one of two) 
  • Dr. Rabiat Akande, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Carey School of Law. This is year two of a two-year award for a project exploring the relationship between law and colonial power. This project engages students and personnel within the communities being studied and will result in scholarship, a workshop series, podcasts, and conference presentations. Dr. Akande was awarded $80,000 ($40,000 per year; this year two of two).

The Wilson H. Elkins Professorship honors the late Wilson H. Elkins, who led the University of Maryland flagship campus to new levels of distinction as its president from 1954 to 1978. The Wilson H. Elkins Endowment Fund supports the professorship awards in combination with institutional and system resources. This endowment and others like it further USM's mission of teaching, research, and public service. For more information, visit the Wilson H. Elkins Professorship web page.

Elkins Professorship for Academic Transformation
The Elkins Professorship for Academic Transformation is a prestigious fellowship awarded to faculty within the University System of Maryland. New for AY2025-2026, the fellowship supports innovative projects focused on the use of Generative AI to advance academic transformation. Three awards of up to $10,000 each will be granted to faculty focused on the use of Generative AI to enhance teaching and learning.
 
  • Dr. Amanda Jozkowski, Associate Professor and MS Program Director at Towson University, will use funds to develop the AI-Responsive Instruction and Student Engagement (ARISE) Project to enhance teaching and learning through the structured integration of generative AI into course design.
  • Dr. Eric Stokan, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County will use the funds to develop and disseminate open-source, modular training materials in computational social science and generative AI built around a forthcoming book authored in Bookdown.
  • Dr. David Leasure at the University of Maryland Global Campus will use funds for the for the adaptation and scale-up of a course-specific, generative AI-based faculty coaching tool.

The Elkins Professorship for Academic Transformation is awarded competitively to faculty members in the University System of Maryland to support projects that can foster or illuminate improvements in access, affordability, quality or outcomes, and/or stewardship of people’s time, money, and other scarce resources. The scope scales beyond a faculty member’s own teaching practices or course design.

The USM comprises 12 institutions: Bowie State University; Coppin State University; Frostburg State University; Salisbury University; Towson University; the University of Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and the University of Maryland Global Campus. The USM also includes three regional centers—the Universities at Shady Grove, the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, and the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland—at which USM universities offer upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses. USM institutions and programs are among the nation’s best in quality and value according to several national rankings. To learn more about the University System of Maryland, visit www.usmd.edu. To learn about the new USM Strategic Plan, “Vision 2030: From Excellence to Preeminence,” visit https://www.usmd.edu/vision2030/.
 
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Contact: Amy Pelsinsky
Email: apelsinsky@usmd.edu