Wake Forest University
NC · AI Readiness #159 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 5.9 /10
Wake Forest's School of Medicine runs a dedicated AI research center, and the university offers campus-wide access to Google Gemini and Adobe Firefly through its AI for Human Flourishing initiative.
William Fleeson, a psychology professor, was appointed Associate Provost for AI Initiatives in July 2026 to lead the university's cross-school AI strategy. The Center for AI Research's CALIBIR program gives students a paid, 10-week summer research internship, and the DEAC high-performance computing cluster got a dedicated new home this summer. Wake Forest has real momentum in AI research and infrastructure, but that hasn't yet translated into an undergraduate AI major, minor, or a standalone AI ethics course open to every student.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: B-
- Curriculum: C
- Partnerships: C-
- Research: B+
A(I)ttitude™: cautious
Selected Highlights
- Associate Provost for AI Initiatives (William Fleeson) appointed July 2026 with university-wide mandate; listed on provost.wfu.edu staff page.
- AI Working Group (Fall 2023, Chair Anne Hardcastle) spans 14+ units including Divinity, Law, Business, Library, CS; AI Task Force (2026) also active; both have produced public outputs.
- ai.wfu.edu published May 2025 with formal Guidelines for Generative AI Use covering goals, governance, ethical guidelines, and named programs.
- AI@Wake serves as university-wide hub; CAIR (School of Medicine, Director Metin Gurcan) draws from Internal Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, and CS; Center for Analytics Impact (Business) adds third school.
- AI Compass pilot (2026-27) led by named director Ana Iltis (Carlson Professor, Center for Bioethics, Health, and Society) with explicit ethics and societal AI mandate.