Dr. Manish Parashar serves as the Executive Director and Chair in Computational Science and Engineering at the University of Utah's Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute. As a Presidential Professor in the Kalhert School of Computing, Parashar leads research in parallel and distributed computing alongside AI Programs Manager Callie Reed, who oversees branding and communications for the university's artificial intelligence initiatives.
Dr. Manish Parashar holds a diverse range of leadership roles within the University of Utah's academic and research infrastructure. In addition to his roles at the SCI Institute and the Kalhert School of Computing, he serves as the Faculty Director for the Data Science & Ethics of Technology Initiative (DATASET) under the One-Utah Data Science Hub. His academic influence extends to international roles, including serving as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Parashar's professional background includes recent high-level federal service. He recently completed an IPA appointment at the National Science Foundation, where he functioned as the Office Director of the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. During his tenure, he also served as co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on the Future Advanced Computing Ecosystem and the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force (NAIRR).
The research focus for Parashar centers on computational and data-enabled science and engineering, specifically within the realms of parallel and distributed computing, extreme-scale computing, and data management. His work also encompasses autonomic computing, cloud computing, and grid computing. His contributions to the field have been recognized with several awards, including the 2023 Achievement Award in High Performance Distributed Computing. He is a Fellow of AAAS, ACM, and IEEE/IEEE Computer Society, and he serves as the founding chair of the IEEE Technical Consortium on High Performance Computing (TCHPC).
Complementing the institute's technical leadership, Callie Reed serves as the AI Programs Manager for the University of Utah. Reed provides programmatic and administrative leadership for the AI Leadership Team and the Chief AI Officer. Her work is centered on showcasing the university's innovation and leadership in the field of artificial intelligence through strategic branding and communication efforts.
Reed's professional expertise includes over a decade of experience in business operations, administration, and strategic communication. Her research and professional interests focus on program development, cross-disciplinary collaboration in innovation, and the societal impact of emerging technologies. She specifically emphasizes the importance of ethical and inclusive AI communication to foster community connections and drive innovation.
The academic foundation of Parashar's expertise began with a BE degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from Bombay University in India, followed by an MS and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University. His research continues to impact the field through the deployment of widely used software systems and extensive publications in parallel and distributed computing.
The University of Utah's focus on artificial intelligence is supported by both technical research and strategic communication. While Parashar drives the computational and data-driven engineering aspects of the institute, Reed manages the branding and organizational leadership required to navigate the societal and ethical implications of these emerging technologies.
