Munawar brings AI expertise to UM-Flint as Jack W. Thompson, M.D. Distinguished Visiting Professor

Asim Munawar, an artificial intelligence researcher and project lead at IBM's Watson Research Center, has joined the University of Michigan-Flint for the 2025-26 academic year as a Jack W. Thompson, M.D. Distinguished Visiting Professor.

At the Watson Research Center, Munawar spearheads initiatives to enhance the reasoning and planning capabilities of enterprise-scale large language models. A prolific contributor to the AI research community, Munawar has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. He is a sought-after speaker and active collaborator, and currently serves as an advisor to the Centaur AI Institute.

"With more than 15 years of experience – more than a decade of it at IBM Research – Dr. Munawar has consistently driven innovation at the intersection of deep learning, symbolic reasoning, and generative AI," said Abby Parrill-Baker, UM-Flint provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. "He is passionate about developing scalable, high-impact AI technologies and is equally committed to cultivating high-performing, collaborative teams. His ongoing work focuses on pushing the boundaries of AI and translating breakthrough research into practical solutions for complex, real-world enterprise challenges."

Munawar will engage in a series of activities and events at UM-Flint. On Oct. 30, he spoke at the 2025 Cybersecurity Horizons Symposium, where the researcher engaged in a panel discussion on cybersecurity, AI, and education, alongside Frank Victory, who is the vice president of the Denver chapter of the Open Worldwide Application Security Project. The discussion was moderated by Khalid Malik, UM-Flint professor of computer science, who nominated Munawar for the visiting professorship. His talks continued, Oct. 31, at the CIT Seminar, during which Munawar presented "Large Language Model Reasoning: Can Neuro-Symbolic AI Help?"

Munawar is the second Jack W. Thompson, M.D. Distinguished Visiting Professor to be announced this academic year – Monica Worline, an organizational psychologist and faculty director of the University of Michigan's Center for Positive Organizations, is taking part in a Coffee & Compassion event, 10 a.m., Nov. 5, at Michigan Room D, located inside the Harding Mott University Center. 

Established in 2004, the Jack W. Thompson, M.D. Distinguished Visiting Professorship is awarded to nationally acclaimed scholars or public intellectuals in a field of broad interest. The professorship's namesake benefactor was an OB-GYN who practiced in Flint from 1950-83. He was the son of Frances Willson Thompson, whose gifts led to the naming of the Frances Willson Thompson Library and established the Critical Issues Forum.

Munawar's appointment will continue through March 2026, with additional opportunities for engagement to be announced at a later date.