Yolanda Gil

Roles & Affiliations: Yolanda Gil is a Fellow and Senior Director for Major Strategic AI and Data Science Initiatives at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) of the University of Southern California (USC). She also holds the title of Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Spatial Sciences Institute. She directs the Center on Artificial Intelligence for Health and leads the Knowledge Capture and Discovery research group within AI@ISI. She serves on the National Science Board (2024–2030) and co-chairs the Stanford AI Index.

Education: PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on AI and cognitive science.

Research Interests: Gil’s work centers on AI and data science, including semantic workflows, provenance capture, collaborative systems, and interdisciplinary applications in geoscience and health. Her research emphasizes knowledge-driven infrastructure to accelerate scientific discovery and reproducibility. Key projects include the W3C PROV standard for provenance and the Geoscience Paper of the Future initiative.

Publications: Highlighted works include the 2025 AI Index Report, a foundational NSF Workshop Report on AI resources, and a 20-year AI research roadmap for the U.S.

Awards & Grants: Recognitions include fellowships from ACM, AAAS, IEEE, and CSS. Her research has been supported by agencies like NSF, NIH, DARPA, and NASA.

Teaching & Leadership: Former Director of USC’s Data Science Program (2024) and Center for Knowledge-Powered Interdisciplinary Data Science (CKIDS). Developed innovative courses like Data Science for Non-Programmers.

Professional Activities: Past President of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and Chair of ACM SIGAI. Active in W3C Provenance standards and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).