News

Twenty-seven University of Maryland researchers have been recognized in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list.

You’re feeling nervous as finals week approaches. A friend passing you on McKeldin Mall stops to ask how you’re feeling. “Good,” you reply with wince and a shrug. The friend can plainly see from your facial expression and body language that “good” alone doesn’t capture the truth about your emotional state. Now, a UMD computer scientist has created a virtual “friend”—an artificial intelligence-driven virtual conversational assistant—which also can understand the subtleties about how you convey emotion.

A $3 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will support a new effort at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD); the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); and Morgan State University to expand the pipeline of women faculty and Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaskan Native faculty in the arts and humanities to the ranks of academic leadership.