Fall 2024 Newsletter

NYU philosophy professor and Research Day 2024 keynote David Chalmers spoke on the topic of "Can ChatGPT Think?"

Message from the CRO

Dear Fordham Community,

First, I want to acknowledge and recognize the dedication and passion of all Fordham researchers, the staff, and the students who support research. Your work helps fulfill our mission as a vibrant research university with much to offer prospective students and collaborators.

Research at Fordham is driven by our "Triple D" mission: discovery, development, and delivery. To support this mission, the Office of Research has established three key mechanisms: incentives, services, and recognition. With more than 25 Office of Research initiatives, faculty research is supported by sponsored programs, research infrastructures, research compliance, and technology transfer. The Office of Research had a busy and productive FY 2024. Here are some highlights:

  1. Record-Breaking Grants: FY 2024 was a historic year for Fordham's research enterprise. We secured $38,487,069 in external grant awards, setting a new record for the university. This amount represents a 43% increase compared to the previous year. For faculty grants alone, we secured $22,242,043, which is a 24% increase compared to FY 2023. This achievement set a historic record for Fordham in its 183-year history.
  2. Effective Office of Research Transition: Successfully navigated the transition of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and the Office of Research. We appointed five staff members to reconstruct and strengthen the Office of Research, ensuring continued support and excellence in research administration.
  3. Advancements in AI Research: As one of our top priorities, we effectively supported AI research by launching the Fordham AI Research Program (FAIR). We established a Faculty Working Group on the Fordham-IBM Partnership on AI, organized three research forums with IBM, and selected 14 Fordham-IBM research fellows and 16 student research interns for the summers of 2023 and 2024.
  4. Global Research Collaborations: We promoted institutional research collaborations with international Jesuit universities. In the summer of 2023, we partnered with Ateneo de Manila University, and in March 2024, we visited Sophia University in Japan and developed additional research collaborations in Asia, Europe, and South America.
  5. University Research Day 2024: In her opening remarks, President Tania Tetlow expressed her deep gratitude to all those involved in Fordham’s research. After President Tetlow spoke, we honored five Fordham faculty with the 2024 Distinguished Research Awards in five scholarly categories. We also heard keynote speaker Dr. David Chalmers from NYU deliver a very topical and provocative talk titled “Can ChatGPT Think?” Following the keynote, one session focused on collaborations between Fordham and IBM researchers, while a concurrent session featured participants in the OR’s highly successful Faculty Research Abroad Program (FRAP). For more details, please read the Fordham Now article on Research Day 2024. Also, see Research Day 2024 photos here.

Please see our webpages at Office of Research for more information on available resources.

We hope you are enjoying your summer, and we look forward to seeing you when the fall semester starts.

George Hong, Ph.D.
Chief Research Officer and Associate Provost for Research