Dean Keith Marzullo

Dean Keith Marzullo, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Dean of the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, has only been at UMass Amherst for four months, but he has hit the ground running.

“I am interested in the future of computer science and information science. I see it operating at the intersection of technology, information science, and people,” he says. He acknowledges that people have fears about artificial intelligence taking away jobs, but points out that the Manning College “is well-positioned to be a leader as computer science evolves in the age of AI.”

In 2021, Robert J. and Donna M. Manning made a transformational gift to CICS. In doing so, they created the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Deanship, the position that Marzullo now holds. “Having the chair and having a college that is named is such a vote of confidence,” he says.

Along with three other endowed funds—for faculty support and recruitment, student support, and interdisciplinary research—the deanship provides the funding necessary to enhance teaching, learning, and real-world impact in the Manning College.

Dean Marzullo envisions using a portion of the funds to create fellowships to support faculty research. They offer a way to reward faculty and ensure UMass Amherst retains the best talent.

Another key initiative for Dean Marzullo is to create seed funding for CICS faculty. This is an evergreen issue; high-risk/high-reward ideas are often hard to get funded without initial data to provide proof of concept. As faculty reorient their research to appeal to alternative funding sources, they will need seed funding to move in new directions.

Although it is common to use endowment funds for this purpose, he wants to make the process more transparent. “It should be less of a dean’s internal negotiation and more of a process the faculty can see as an opportunity and can therefore plan more accordingly. I want to make it more equitable and more mainstream.”

Dean Marzullo also plans to increase career services and promote stress relief for students. He wants to address the fact that some students take on debt to finance their education, limiting their participation in activities that could build their careers.

In addition, Dean Marzullo wants to “make a bit of a splash,” bringing in speakers who attract the interest of the whole campus. This spring, he is hoping to host two speakers with expertise in AI as part of a new dean’s lecture series.

He also notes that the construction of CICS’s new building has made a difference for students and faculty.