Walter Scheirer

Walter Scheirer is the Dennis O. Doughty Collegiate Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. His research focuses on recognition systems that bridge vision and language, emphasizing open world recognition, psychophysics, and ethical AI design. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado (2009), and has authored influential works like *A History of Fake Things on the Internet* (Stanford University Press, 2023).

Education: Ph.D., Engineering, University of Colorado (2009); M.S. and B.A. in Computer Science from Lehigh University (2006, 2004).

Research interests include open set recognition, biometrics, digital humanities, and AI ethics. His work challenges compartmentalization of recognition tasks, advocating for unified approaches across domains. Notable projects include *Open World Recognition* (2011–present) and *Virtue Ethics-Based Framework for Technology Design* (2021–present).

Recent publications emphasize ethical AI, disinformation detection, and human-AI collaboration. He advises multiple students and serves as IEEE Computer Society PAMI TC Chair and Computer Vision Foundation CTO. His lab develops tools like *HomOpt* for hyperparameter optimization and *NOMAD* datasets for aerial emergency response scenarios.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Open World Recognition Lab and collaborates on interdisciplinary projects with humanities scholars, drone researchers, and ethicists. Active in organizing conferences like CVPR, WACV, and ICCP.