Distinguished Service Award 2023

Professor Barry O'Sullivan was awarded the EurAI Distinguished Service Award 2023 for his contributions to the field of artificial intelligence through sustained service, including President of the European Artificial Intelligence Association, Vice Chair of the European Commission’s High-Level Group on AI, and the promotion of ethical and trustworthy AI.

Professor O’Sullivan is a full professor (Chair of Constraint Programming) at the School of Computer Science & IT at University College Cork and a member of its Governing Body. He is founding Director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at UCC and Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in Artificial Intelligence.

Professor O'Sullivan is a EurAI Fellow (2012), a member of the EurAI Board (2014-2020) and the 15th EurAI President (2018-2020). He previously served as President of the Association for Constraint Programming as well as Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Ireland.

His awards include: UCC’s Leadership Award (2013), ACP Distinguished Service Award (2014), Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year (2016), UCC Researcher of the Year (2017), elected to the Royal Irish Academy (2017), Fellow of the Irish Computer Society (2018), Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering (2019), IPEC-EATCS Nerode Prize (2020), Science Foundation Ireland Best International Engagement Award (2021), Fellow of the Asia-Pacific AI Association (2022), Fellow (2022) and a member of the Executive Council of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

Professor O'Sullivan served as one of Ireland’s two national representatives to the UNESCO Intergovernmental Special Committee on the Ethics of AI. He has also chaired a committee on behalf the Irish Government to assess the skills and training needs associated with artificial intelligence, publishing a highly regarded report on AI Skills in 2022, and is a member of the Digital Group at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA). In 2020, he was appointed Chair of the Oversight Board of Health Data Research UK (North).

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