Hazelwood Empire AI board appointment 2025-10-08
Citation
Empire AI. “Empire AI appoints five new members to board of directors.” Press release, Oct. 8, 2025. https://www.empireai.edu/2025/10/08/empire-ai-appoints-five-new-members-to-board-of-directors/. Read 2026-10-26.
Bottom line
- Empire AI named Kim Hazelwood an At-Large Board Member on Oct. 8, 2025. The board then had 16 members, 14 voting and two advisory.
- The release says the size and mix were “mandated by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature”.
- New York funds Empire AI through its FY26 budget, with philanthropy from the Simons Foundation and Tom Secunda.
Background
The release announces five board members. Two are at-large experts. Three represent member institutions.
Key claims
- “Empire AI’s board now stands at 16 members, including 14 voting members and two advisory members—fully satisfying the composition and size requirements mandated by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature when the consortium was created.” (paragraph 1)
- Kim Hazelwood “brings over 20 years of experience spanning academia, national laboratories, and leadership roles at Meta, Intel, and Yahoo Labs. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and served on advisory councils for the NSF, National Academy of Sciences, and the Computing Research Association.” (list)
- Empire AI “recently launched Beta, a next-generation AI supercomputing system powered by NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, and the project is on track to complete its permanent facility on the University at Buffalo campus by the end of 2026.” (paragraph after the list)
- “In addition to significant financial support from each member institution, Empire AI is backed by Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, with major capital funding provided through the FY26 budget. The initiative is also supported philanthropically by the Simons Foundation and Tom Secunda.” (paragraph after the list)
- Members: Columbia, Cornell, CUNY, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYU, RPI, University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY and the Flatiron Institute. (About Empire AI)
Evidence and method
A press release from the organization.
⚠️ Contradiction: this release lists her past roles at “Meta, Intel, and Yahoo Labs” and “more than 50” papers. The NC State honor page lists “Google, Yahoo, and Meta” and “more than 70” papers (Hazelwood NC State ECE honor).
Limits
- No amounts for state or member funding.