Tshilidzi Marwala

Last updated

Tshilidzi Marwala
Tshilidzi Marwala 20230801.jpg
7th Rector of the United Nations University
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 March 2023
Thesis Fault Identification Using Neural Networks and Vibration Data  (2000)
Doctoral students Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, Megan Jill Russell

Tshilidzi Marwala (born 28 July 1971) is a South African artificial intelligence engineer, a computer scientist, a mechanical engineer and a university administrator. He is currently Rector of the United Nations University and UN Under-Secretary-General. [1] In August 2023 Marwala was appointed to the United Nations scientific advisory council. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Marwala was born on 28 July 1971 in Duthuni Village in the Limpopo Province. [4] He obtained a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, graduating Magna Cum Laude, [5] followed by a PhD in artificial intelligence from St John's College, Cambridge in 2000. [6]

Career

From 2000 to 2001, Marwala was a post-doctoral research associate at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. [7] In 2003, he joined the University of the Witwatersrand and became a professor of electrical engineering in 2008. [7] From 2013 to 2017, he was the deputy vice chancellor for research and internationalization as well as the dean of engineering at the University of Johannesburg. [7]

From 2018 to 2023, Marwala was the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg. As Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, Marwala developed and implemented the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) strategy, [8] by introducing a compulsory artificial intelligence course and an Africa Insights course for all students, irrespective of their majors. [9]

Marwala has been Rector of the United Nations University and UN Under-Secretary-General since 1 March 2023. [10] He was a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) committee that developed the ethical guidelines of using artificial intelligence in medicine. [11]

Marwala served as a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation (2020-2023) [12] and on a board of Nedbank (2019-2023). [13] He is a member of council of the University of Peace [14] and the STS Forum Kyoto. [15]

Marwala was the Deputy Chair of South Africa’s Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (with the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa serving as Chair). [16] He is the Chair of the International Scientific Advisory Board for the African Centre of Excellence in the Internet of Things (ACE-IoT) based in Rwanda. [17] The government of Namibia appointed him on the Fourth Industrial Revolution Task Team. [7]

Research

Marwala's research interests include the theory and application of artificial intelligence to engineering [18] [19] [20] and computer science such as the St. Petersburg paradox, [21] blockchain, [22] and poker., [23] [24] finance and economics, [25] [26] [27] medicine like his work on pulmonary embolism [28] epileptic activity, [29] HIV [30] and Covid-19, [31] and political science. [32] [33] [34]

Outreach and public engagement

Marwala's work and opinion have appeared in media such as New Scientist , [35] The Economist , [36] CNN, [37] [38] and BBC. [39] He has also given talks at Royal Society, [40] Cambridge Union, [41] and Oxford Union. [42] [43] In 2016 Tshilidzi Marwala delivered the Bernard Price Memorial Lecture in South Africa. With Stephen Hawking and Guy Laliberté, he was a judge of the YouTube Space Lab competition. [44]

Personal life

Marwala is married to Jabulile Vuyiswa Manana since 2000, and together they have 3 children. [4]

Awards and honours

Marwala is a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (2010), [45] African Academy of Sciences (2012), [46] American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022), [47] Chinese Academy of Sciences (2023), [48] and the Academy of Science of South Africa.[ when? ] [49] [ failed verification ] He is the recipient of the Bronze Order of Mapungubwe in 2004. [50] [ failed verification ] In 2022, Marwala was awarded the IT Personality of the Year Award in South Africa for his work on the fourth Industrial Revolution. [51] In 2020 the Science-for-Society Gold Medal from the Academy of Science of South Africa, [52] [ failed verification ] and in 2024 the Hans Carl von Carlowitz Sustainability Award. [53]

Marwala has received honorary doctorates from the Caucasus University in Tbilisi in Georgia, [54] the University of Venda., [55] Tshwane University of Technology [56] and the University of Pretoria. [57] Marwala has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University, [58] Wolfson College, Cambridge, [59] and University of California, Berkeley. [60]

Marwala was selected as one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2024 by New African Magazine, which noted "his extensive application of artificial intelligence concepts across multiple fields, including health care, aerospace engineering, economics, finance, and political science." [61]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tshilidzi Marwala | United Nations University". UNU | United Nations University. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "UN Secretary-General Creates Scientific Advisory Board". UNU, United Nations University . United Nations University. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "UN Secretary-General Creates Scientific Advisory Board for Independent Advice on Breakthroughs in Science and Technology | UN Press". press.un.org. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 Mkize, Phumla (16 August 2022). "Well-travelled professor who loves technology". Sunday World. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "Case Western Reserve University Alumni". 3 March 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "University of Cambridge PhD Thesis". 3 March 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Namibia". The Namibian. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "4IR". 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "4IR". 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala Begins Term as United Nations University Rector | United Nations University". UNU | United Nations University. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "WHO" (PDF). 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "NelsonMandelaFoundation". 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "NedbankBoard". 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Council of the University for Peace – UPEACE".
  15. ↑ "Council Members｜NPO STS forum".
  16. ↑ "RSA". 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "Rwanda". 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  18. ↑ Tshilidzi Marwala (2003). "Fault classification using pseudo modal energies and neural networks". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal. 41 (1): 82–89. Bibcode:2003AIAAJ..41...82M. doi:10.2514/2.1916.
  19. ↑ Tshilidzi Marwala; Sibusiso Sibisi (2005). "Finite element model updating using Bayesian framework and modal properties". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal of Aircraft. 42 (1): 275–278. doi:10.2514/1.11841.
  20. ↑ Tshilidzi Marwala (2002). "Finite element model updating using wavelet data and genetic algorithm". American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal of Aircraft. 39 (4): 709–711. doi:10.2514/2.2971.
  21. ↑ Muller, Daniel; Marwala, Tshilidzi (2019). "Relative Net Utility and the Saint Petersburg Paradox". arXiv: 1910.09544 [econ.GN].
  22. ↑ Marwala, Tshilidzi; Xing, Bo (2015). "Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence". arXiv: 1802.04451 [cs.AI].
  23. ↑ Marwala, Tshilidzi; Hurwitz, Evan (7 May 2007). "Learning to bluff". arXiv: 0705.0693 [cs.AI].
  24. ↑ Merali, Zeeya (2 June 2007). "Software learns when it pays to deceive". New Scientist.
  25. ↑ Marwala, Tshilidzi; Hurwitz, Evan (2015). "Artificial Intelligence and Asymmetric Information Theory". arXiv: 1510.02867 [cs.AI].
  26. ↑ "Artificial Intelligence can Reduce Information Asymmetry : Networks Course blog for INFO 2040/CS 2850/Econ 2040/SOC 2090". blogs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  27. ↑ Marwala, Tshilidzi; Hurwitz, Evan (2017). Artificial Intelligence and Economic Theory: Skynet in the Market. London: Springer. ISBN   978-3-319-66104-9.
  28. ↑ Scurrell, Simon; Marwala, Tshilidzi; Rubin, David (2007). "Automatic Detection of Pulmonary Embolism using Computational Intelligence". arXiv: 0706.0300 [cs.CV].
  29. ↑ Nadim Mohamed; David Rubin; Tshilidzi Marwala (2006). "Detection of epileptiform activity in human EEG signals using Bayesian neural networks". Neural Information Processing-Letters and Reviews. 10 (1).
  30. ↑ B.B. Leke; T. Marwala (2006). "Autoencoder networks for HIV classification". Current Science. 81 (11).
  31. ↑ R. Mbuvha; T. Marwala (2020). "Bayesian inference of COVID-19 spreading rates in South Africa". PLOS ONE. 15 (8): e0237126. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1537126M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237126 . PMC   7406053 . PMID   32756608.
  32. ↑ Tshilidzi Marwala; Monica Lagazio (2011). Militarized Conflict Modeling Using Computational Intelligence. Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN   978-0-85729-789-1.
  33. ↑ Bhaso Ndzendze; Tshilidzi Marwala (2021). Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in International Relations. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. ISBN   978-981-123-454-5.
  34. ↑ Bhaso Ndzendze; Tshilidzi Marwala (2023). Artificial Intelligence and International Relations Theories. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   978-9811948763.
  35. ↑ "Software learns when it pays to deceive". New Scientist. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  36. ↑ "On Jacob Zuma, Iraq, Croatia, home ownership, Somali pirates, education, Greece, Machiavelli, economics". The Economist. 14 May 2009. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  37. ↑ "UJ grabs AI spotlight in CNN feature". 15 January 2018.
  38. ↑ University of Johannesburg official Youtube (16 January 2018), UJ Vice-Chancellor speaks on AI on CNN Marketplace Africa, archived from the original on 19 December 2021, retrieved 20 November 2018
  39. ↑ "BBC World Service - Business Daily, The education scam". BBC.
  40. ↑ "Day 1 highlights - 2021 Commonwealth Science Conference: Science for a resilient future | Royal Society". royalsociety.org.
  41. ↑ "Is AI dangerous". Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
  42. ↑ "AI Panel". Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
  43. ↑ "AI Panel".
  44. ↑ "Judges". YouTube Space Lab Resources. Google Sites. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  45. ↑ "Marwala Tshilidzi". TWAS. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  46. ↑ "Marwala Tshilidzi | The AAS". old.aasciences.africa. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  47. ↑ "Marwala Tshilidzi". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  48. ↑ "Marwala Tshilidzi". Chinese Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  49. ↑ "ASAf Fellows in South Africa". Academy of Science of South Africa. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  50. ↑ "The Order of Mapungubwe | the Presidency".
  51. ↑ "UJ's Prof Marwala wins IT Personality of the Year Award". 12 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  52. ↑ "Asaf Gold medal". 12 April 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  53. ↑ "UNU Rector Recognized for Contributions to Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability". United Nations University. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  54. ↑ "UJ's Prof Marwala awarded honorary doctorate from Caucasus University". 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  55. ↑ "honorary doctorate f". 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  56. ↑ "honorary doctorate f". 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  57. ↑ "Graduation Program" (PDF). 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  58. ↑ "South African Fellowship Program certificates awarded". Harvard Gazette. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  59. ↑ "New appointment for former Visiting Fellow | Wolfson College Cambridge". www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  60. ↑ "Visiting Scholars Program | Center for Studies in Higher Education". www.cshe.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  61. ↑ "UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala Named One of 100 Most Influential Africans of 2024". United Nations University. 7 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
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