Sorin Lerner, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, has been named dean of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, Provost Kavita Bala announced June 5.

Lerner’s five-year appointment, approved June 2 by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees, begins Nov. 1.

Lerner succeeds Bala, the inaugural dean of Cornell Bowers, who was named provost in 2024. Since then, Thorsten Joachims, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of computer science and information science, has served as interim dean of the college.

“Sorin is a recognized scholar and a proven leader of a highly respected computer science department,” Bala said. “He has the expertise and commitment to research excellence and education to lead Cornell Bowers going forward. I am excited to see what the future holds in store for this college.”

“I want to thank Thorsten for his skill and leadership at Bowers during this transition,” Bala said. “Thorsten stepped in to lead the college from the beginning of this year through a time of significant change in the federal landscape. At the transition, he will return to his leadership role in the Cornell AI Initiative.”

Lerner said he is “beyond excited” to be coming to Cornell, which in 1999 created the pathbreaking Faculty of Computing and Information Science. A transformative gift from Ann S. Bowers ’59 in 2020 established the college.

“Computing and information sciences at Cornell has a long tradition of academic excellence, collaborative impact, interdisciplinary research and pursuit of knowledge,” Lerner said. “It will be a privilege and honor to listen, plan, enable and cheer a constructive, impactful and inspiring future for Cornell Bowers.

“Cornell is a special place,” he said. “The collaborative nature of Cornell aligns with how I like to approach leadership: By working together, we can inspire each other to heighten our research and education missions through novel programs that make all boats rise.”

Lerner’s own research focuses on providing programmers with tools to make software more reliable and secure. His recent research has focused on two directions: using AI, machine learning and large language models (LLMs) to build proofs about programs; and using human-centered design, with user studies, to create better programming environments.

His studies range from theoretical formal methods to low-level runtime, and from AI/LLMs to human-centered design.

“There is not a single aspect of our routine that has not been touched by computing devices,” he said. “I believe that safely, ethically and efficiently unlocking the full potential of computers, software and the data they process is one of the central intellectual endeavors of our time.”

The age of artificial intelligence will transform computer science education, Lerner said.

“Institutions will have to think creatively about how to educate students so they are prepared for an AI-infused future unlike any we have seen,” he said. “And in research too, mentoring Ph.D. students will be especially important so they can blossom as leaders who can navigate the complexities of the research landscape ahead.”

Lerner, who grew up in Montreal, received his bachelor of engineering degree in computer engineering from McGill University in 1999, and his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Washington in 2006. He joined the computer science and engineering faculty at UC San Diego in January 2006, and was named department chair in July 2020.

As department chair, he helped guide the launch of a new major at UC San Diego in artificial intelligence, as well as an online master of data science program, the first fully online degree program at the university. Under his leadership, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering went through a significant growth period, hiring 18 faculty in four years and becoming both the largest Ph.D. program and the largest M.S. program on campus.

He is a recipient of an National Science Foundation CAREER Award, several distinguished papers awards and a UC San Diego Computer Science Teacher of the Year Award.