A new gift and initiative

Dear faculty, staff, and students,

As many of you know, I have been thinking about ways to ensure that Bowdoin students graduate well prepared to lead in a world reshaped by artificial intelligence. At my inauguration, I shared my belief that the proliferation of AI will make a Bowdoin education—one that provides our students with the ability to understand ethics, complexity, and contingency, one that leaves them with the ability to welcome and learn from multiple perspectives and with the ability to resist flattened-out explanations—even more powerful and more necessary. I believe that all the more today.

I have hardly been alone in this. All around the College—in classrooms and offices, through grant proposals, academic research, and workshops—people have been planning, learning, and imagining ways to use, adapt, and respond to AI.

Today, I am thrilled to announce that the College has received an extraordinary $50 million gift from one of our alumni, Reed Hastings ’83. This gift will allow us to launch the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity. This endowment is a testament to Reed’s amazing generosity, as well as a reflection of his belief in Bowdoin’s ability to engage with the transformative power of AI in ways that advance our commitment to the liberal arts and the common good.

As Reed puts it: “This donation seeks to advance Bowdoin's mission of cultivating wisdom for the common good by deepening the College's engagement with one of humanity's most transformative developments: artificial intelligence. We aim to develop leaders who can be ‘at home’ in both the present and future technological landscape. Just as Bowdoin's mission emphasizes the formation of complete individuals who can navigate a world in flux, this initiative will empower students and faculty to critically examine, thoughtfully utilize, and ethically shape AI's trajectory. This aligns with Bowdoin's centuries-old commitment to developing mental powers ‘for the benefit of society’ while embodying its recognition that technology is fundamentally changing both education and society.”

In addition to being the cofounder of Netflix, Hastings is also a philanthropist with deep commitments to education. It is worth highlighting that the origins of his interest in artificial intelligence can be traced back to his time at Bowdoin where, as a math major, he worked closely with Professor Steve Fisk, who encouraged him to study AI.

Reed’s generosity comes with responsibility and will require our imagination and hard work. I am delighted to announce that the initiative will include the hiring of ten new faculty members in a wide range of disciplines across academic divisions, as well as opportunities for faculty who want to invest more time and energy in transforming their teaching and research in ways that use AI, examine its trajectories, and consider its implications now and in the years to come. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach represents the certainty that the challenges and opportunities ahead will require the many lenses of the liberal arts. The initiative will also include a wide range of programs, including workshops, symposia, and support for student research.

These steps require an intentional and deliberative process, and this work will be led by an advisory committee. I so appreciate the following faculty who have agreed to serve on this committee:

• Martin Abel, Assistant Professor of Economics
• Aliosha Barranco Lopez, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, member of the Committee on Teaching and Classroom Practice and its AI subcommittee
• Eric Chown, Sarah and James Bowdoin Professor of Digital and Computational Studies
• Allison Cooper, Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and Cinema Studies
• Willi Lempert, Assistant Professor of Anthropology [will join the committee in Fall 2025]
• Fernando Nascimento, Assistant Professor of Digital and Computational Studies
• Beth Stemmler, James Stacy Coles Professor of Natural Sciences

The committee will be chaired by a faculty director of the initiative, and I am so pleased that Eric Chown has agreed to serve in this role.

I know the committee members will be reaching out to our community over the next weeks and months, and that there will be many opportunities for campus-wide conversations about ways to ensure that this initiative will best serve Bowdoin’s mission. I look forward to those conversations.

I am grateful to Reed for his generosity and the timeliness and impact of his gift—and for the confidence that his investment conveys in our faculty and staff, in our students, and in our model of education.

Sincerely,
Safa