Kc Santosh

Background

About Kc Santosh

Prof. KC Santosh–highly accomplished AI expert and TEDx Speaker–is Chair of the Department of Computer Science (since 2020) and founding director of the AI Research Lab (since 2015) at the University of South Dakota (USD). He previously served as Graduate Program Director for seven years (2017–24), was a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and completed a PostDoc at INRIA (France), where he also earned his PhD in Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence. A highly trained academic leader—having completed the President’s Executive Leadership Program and national Chair/Dean trainings (Levels 1.0 & 2.0; CCAS)—Prof. Santosh has led transformative efforts in curriculum innovation and program assessment, including ABET accreditation (2016/17 and 2022/23). Through the AI+x initiative, he has developed interdisciplinary AI and Data Science programs in collaboration with Biology, Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Sustainability, and Business Analytics, establishing USD as a pioneer in AI education and driving a remarkable departmental enrollment growth. He also serves as the AI lead for the South Dakota Biomedical Computation Collaborative (https://sd-bcc.org), a major research education initiative funded by the Department of Education ($6.5M) and the SD Board of Regents ($0.725M), and organizes the annual USD AI Symposium to foster collaboration in AI statewide and nationally. With a total funding exceeding $8.7 million from sources like DOD, NSF, ED, and SDBOR, he has authored 10 books and more than 250 peer-reviewed research articles, including TPAMI, TMI, and TAI. He serves as an associate editor for esteemed journals such as Transactions on AI, Transactions on Medical Imaging, Int. J of Machine Learning & Cybernetics, and Int. J of Pattern Recognition & Artificial Intelligence and leads review panels for NSF and Mitacs, to name a few. He has delivered 90+ keynote talks and chaired more than 20 international conferences, including CAI, CVMI, CBMS, ICMI, and AI symposium. Among his honors are the Visionary Leadership Award (University of Derby – UK, 2023), Cutler Award for Teaching and Research Excellence (USD, 2021), President's Research Excellence Award (USD, 2019), and the Ignite Award from the US Department of Health & Human Services (2014). Since 2024, he has been serving in the NIST AI Standards and Innovation (Formerly AI Safety Institute Consortium) and the U.S. Speaker Program (U.S. Department of State), delivering talks on AI and AI education.