Venkatesh Murthy, Stephanie Gil appointed Kempner Institute associate faculty members

The Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard is pleased to announce the appointment of Venkatesh Murthy and Stephanie Gil as associate faculty members. 

Murthy and Gil are both current Harvard faculty members whose pioneering research advances the Kempner Institute’s core scientific mission to understand the basis of natural and artificial intelligence. The new appointees will begin their three-year appointments at the Kempner Institute on July 1.

Murthy, who is Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Paul J. Finnegan Family Director of the Center for Brain Science, studies the neural circuits and associated algorithms that enable animals to navigate the olfactory world.

“I hope that our group’s work on chemical sensing and odor-guided animal behavior — which I have come to call Intelligent Olfaction — can bring a fresh angle to the study of intelligence that can complement existing strengths at the Kempner Institute,” said Murthy. “I am particularly excited to interact with the independent fellows and graduate students to learn from them, and to perchance interest them in challenging out-of-the-mainstream, side-road problems.”

Gil, who is assistant professor of computer science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), researches cooperation in robot-robot and human-robot teams. Gil’s research develops theory and systems that uncover the algorithmic foundations of natural and artificial intelligence, focusing on how physically embodied agents — such as robots — perceive, communicate, and collaborate to achieve resilient, intelligent behavior in complex environments.

“I’m excited to join the Kempner Institute as an associate faculty member and contribute to its mission of uncovering the foundations of natural and artificial intelligence,” said Gil. “My research spans robotics, communication, trust modeling, and learning. I am excited for the new research collaborations with Kempner fellows, researchers, and other faculty as part of this new appointment. I look forward to pushing the envelope on understanding how physically embodied agents perceive, reason, and collaborate, offering new frameworks for intelligent behavior that align closely with the institute’s interdisciplinary vision.”

Murthy and Gil will join the Kempner’s 10 current associate faculty members. Kempner Institute associate faculty play a key role in the institute, working closely with fellow community members to foster collaborative research efforts, pursue new discoveries, design impactful educational programs, and direct the institute’s scientific growth.