David Watts

David Watts has been appointed the new director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence at Colby. Watts brings nearly 30 years of experience across the tech sector, with extensive expertise in integrating AI into enterprise-scale products and services. Most recently, he served as vice president for the IBM Z Platform, where he led the development and delivery of hybrid cloud AI, security, and resilience solutions on IBM’s industry-leading mainframe systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at Motorola, Obsidian Inc., and Ebara Technologies, and also launched a startup focused on precision processing in the fabrication of advanced semiconductor devices. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, for his research on quantized superlattice electrodes in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; an M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley; and a B.A. from Carleton College, a liberal arts college in Minnesota.

Leslie Lima

As Assistant Director of Operations for the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Leslie Lima supports the Institute’s programs, events, and strategic initiatives, ensuring smooth and effective operations across all activities.

Before joining DavisAI, she served as Executive Assistant in Colby’s Office of Human Resources and brings over nine years of administrative experience, including executive-level support at Kennebec Valley Community College and service in the United States Army.

Ryan Bloom

As DavisAI’s Application Specialist, Ryan Bloom works with Colby community members to explore, develop, and maintain applications of AI that enhance work and learning. Prior to joining DavisAI, she developed content used to train large language models on behalf of a top ten Fortune 500 company. Off the Hill, she enjoys writing, playing volleyball, and getting outdoors.

Vijayanta Jain

Vijayanta Jain is a Postdoctoral Associate at DavisAI, where he works with faculty across departments to integrate AI into research, teaching, and education. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maine, where his research focused on privacy, software engineering, and AI. Before that, he graduated summa cum laude from Texas Tech University. Outside of work, he enjoys tinkering with his homelab and taking photos of animals and nature. 

Cade Puzon ’26

Cade is a Fifth-Year Fellow at the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, where he builds and evaluates LLM-based systems for institutional use. He graduated from Colby with a double major in Computer Science: AI concentration & Philosophy. At DAI, he works collaboratively with students and faculty across disciplines researching locally-deployed language models, retrieval augmented generation, and text embedding to design tools aligned with the Institute’s mission of human-centered, responsible AI innovation. As a former CS Teaching Assistant, CS Summer RA, DAI RA, and AI Society Officer, he is invested in enabling the Colby community to benefit from AI’s capabilities without being diminished by its disruptions.

Mingwei Zhu ’22

As the Applications Engineer at DavisAI, Mingwei ’22 helps the campus community integrate AI into their work and studies. Before returning to Colby, he earned a graduate degree in data science in Georgia and developed analytics systems for a transportation startup. Outside of work, he enjoys running, cooking, and exploring new crafts.

Farah Qureshi

Assistant Professor of Anthropology; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2025-2026

Jen Coane

Professor of Psychology; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2025-2026

Taka Suzuki

Assistant Professor of Art; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2025-2026

Tahiya Chowdhury

Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science; X+AI Faculty; Davis AI Postdoctoral Associate 2021-2023

Alejandra Ortiz

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies; X+AI Faculty; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2022-2023

Ben Baker

Assistant Professor of Philosophy; X+AI Faculty

Vivian Ferrillo

Assistant Professor of Government; X+AI Faculty

Sonya Donaldson

Assistant Professor of African-American Studies; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2024-2025

José Martínez

Assistant Professor of Music; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2024-2025

Kara Kugelmeyer

Data Services Librarian; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2024

Dale Kocevski

Associate Professor, Chair of Physics & Astronomy; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2023-2024

Hong Zhang

Professor of East Asian Studies; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2023-2024

Veronica Romero

Assistant Professor of Psychology; Davis AI Faculty Fellow 2022-2023

Dawit Boku ’26

I’m Dave, class of 2026 majoring in Computer Science (AI concentration) and a Math minor.  I’m an engineer and designer who’s curious about building software that’s intentionally designed and actually solves real human problems. I’ve worked across the full stack – frontend, backend, data pipelines – and on search systems built for big, messy information spaces. I also love thinking about the world through history, philosophy, and policy. In my free time, I’m currently learning how to play the guitar.

Minh Pham-Dinh ’26

Minh Pham-Dinh is a senior at Colby College studying Computer Science and Mathematics. His research explores how intelligent agents can reason about actions, goals, and social dynamics by grounding structured world models in cognitive and linguistic representations. Outside of research, he enjoys playing volleyball and cooking.