One of the Navy’s first female fighter pilots brings her maverick attitude to GMU’s autonomy and robotics center.

How are universities handling the rise of artificial intelligence and robotics? George Mason, for its part, is making its mark by bringing in a maverick to shake things up. Earlier this year, the school welcomed Mary ‘Missy’ Cummings, 56, as professor and director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center. Cummings, one of the Navy’s first female fighter pilots and a world-renowned AI expert, is teaching at the Fairfax campus, conducting research, and devising ways to “upskill” and “reskill” the area’s workforce in all things AI-related.

“I’m on a mission to educate people so that we’re making better decisions about how, why, when, and where to incorporate AI,” she says.

In addition to guiding the next generation of AI experts at the university, the former Duke University and MIT professor hopes to expand her reach throughout the DMV.