SDSU Launches New Era of Artificial Intelligence Research With Boost From Brown Foundation

Jim Brown’s spirit filled the lobby at the Gateway Center. Family and friends shared remembrances of the late Aztec’s fondness of all things at San Diego State University. They told stories of his relentless ambition, his illimitable humility and his motivation — his heartiest attribute of all. 

"Hard to discourage," said Brown’s widow Marilyn Brown, citing a junior-year personality profile.

Brown’s family — joined by staff, faculty and students — helped open the doors to the James Silberrad Brown Center for Artificial Intelligence on Feb. 27 during a private renaming ceremony. The center, located at the Management Information Systems Department, Fowler College of Business, will expand on its theoretical and experimental AI research supported by the Brown family’s $5 million grant.

“Jim was really proud of his affiliation with San Diego State and he was really grateful for the excellent education he received here,” said Brown during the ceremony. “There is no better place to honor his memory and legacy than at the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State.”

The grant helps establish and operate the center, will support a center director, and will form endowments for future fellowships and scholarships. The grant was awarded based on recommendations from Marilyn Brown and Jim’s daughter, Kelly Brown, who consulted university leadership to determine funding areas that would best align with Brown’s interests.

“One of our challenges is to think about how we educate students for jobs that do not yet exist,” said Dan Moshavi, Thomas and Evelyn Page Dean of the Fowler College of Business. “Artificial intelligence we know is going to be on the cutting edge.”

SDSU AI Lab Director and Associate Professor Aaron Elkins (’03) described the grant to his department as “a vote of confidence” by the Browns that SDSU researchers are value creators in the AI field.

“This center is going to provide access to some of the most advanced instruments that we can possibly have at this moment in time for our students,” said Elkins, who founded the lab in 2018. “The best way that we can say thank you [to the Brown family] is to demonstrate what we're capable of doing at SDSU.”

Studies and research at the center are underway. Following the ribbon cutting, Elkins ushered groups into the AI lab where teams of students presented various projects and state-of-the-art equipment. Undergraduate and graduate students showcased some of their work in cybersecurity, mixed reality technologies, and human-robot interactions using the lab’s unofficial mascot, Pepper.

David Arteaga and Corey Ethington, virtual reality (VR) students, demonstrated the VR lab’s latest equipment including a headset with eye-tracking technology and a haptic vest that creates a sense of touch in a virtual environment. They also talked about innovations in VR applications designed to enable users to engineer product prototypes, in healthcare, and in development of immersive virtual gyms offering some forms of physical therapy.

Brown's determined spirit will linger long at the center. His story is featured on a plaque placed prominently at the center’s doors reminding students to never be discouraged. 

“Jim's goal for this center would be for it not to be best in class but to be the best center for artificial intelligence in America, and we are confident that will happen…we stand ready to help you achieve that lofty goal,” said Marilyn Brown.

“Because this is affiliated with the Fowler College of Business it's appropriate to think in terms of return on investment, so here is one for the ages: In 1966, Jim received the Robert Shields scholarship and award in the sum of $200 and here we are. Well done for SDSU.”