As the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) enters its sixth year in operation, world-leading computer security expert David Lie will take on the role of the institute’s director, while two renowned AI safety experts—Roger Grosse and David Duvenaud—are being appointed Schwartz Reisman Chairs in Technology and Society.
David Lie is a professor at the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Toronto and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Secure and Reliable Systems. He also holds cross-appointments in U of T’s Department of Computer Science and Faculty of Law, and is a faculty affiliate at the Vector Institute.
Roger Grosse and David Duvenaud areboth associate professors in the Department of Computer Science at U of T and founding members of the Vector Institute where they are currently faculty members and Canada CIFAR AI Chairs.
Grosse and Duvenaud will hold their new appointments for five-year terms, while Lie will hold his for a four-year term.
Lie, Grosse, and Duvenaud succeed inaugural SRI Director and Chair Gillian Hadfield, a professor of law and strategic management, whose five-year term as Schwartz Reisman Chair ends in June of 2024. Hadfield stepped down as SRI’s director in December of 2023, and the role of interim director has been filled for the past six months by Kelly Lyons, a professor in the Faculty of Information with a cross-appointment to the Department of Computer Science. The Chairship that Hadfield held has now been increased from one appointment to two for Grosse and Duvenaud.
David Lie is a world-leading computer security expert whose research goal is to make computer systems more secure and trustworthy through a variety of approaches including computer architecture, formal verification, techniques using operating systems, and networking. Lie was one of SRI’s inaugural research leads when the institute was established in 2019, and has worked on a number of interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of computing, policy, law, and the use, stewardship, and governance of data.
Lie’s ongoing collaborations with Faculty of Law Professor Lisa Austin, also one of SRI’s inaugural research leads, include work on data trusts, digital privacy, user behaviour, safe data-sharing sites, and more. Austin will return to her role as an SRI associate director for the 2024-25 academic year after completing her term as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and will resume interdisciplinary collaborations and close cooperation on institute leadership with Lie.
Read the full SRI announcement
