Jason M. Pittman, Sc.D., collegiate associate professor in the School of Cybersecurity and Information Technology at University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Australia related to artificial intelligence.
“This extraordinary opportunity for Dr. Pittman is representative of the quality of the faculty throughout UMGC,” said Helen Barker, department chair of the School of Cybersecurity at UMGC. “Supporting faculty in the pursuit of their academic passion through independent research is not only beneficial to the individual member but also to the entire UMGC community, especially our students.”
Pittman will research the potential use of open-source large language models in the unwitting generation of disinformation.
“The goal is to develop a set of detection schemes and guardrails at the model level, thus keeping disinformation from reaching the information-sphere and protecting the body of human knowledge,” he said.
While serving as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, Pittman will retain his position at UMGC.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. It is funded through an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections and work to address complex global challenges.
Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. UMGC President Gregory Fowler was twice named a Fulbright Scholar.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
About UMGC
University of Maryland Global Campus was founded more than 75 years ago specifically to serve the higher education needs of working adults and military servicemembers. Today, UMGC is the largest provider of postsecondary education in Maryland and continues its global tradition with online and hybrid courses, more than 175 classroom and service locations worldwide, and more than 135 degrees and certificates backed by the reputation of a state university and the University System of Maryland. For more information, visit umgc.edu.
Pittman was selected as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, the first UMGC faculty member to receive the Fulbright program’s most prestigious appointment. He will serve at the University of Adelaide in Australia and research large-language models and disinformation.
Share This