Syracuse Sun

Associate Professor Jaime Banks of the School of Information Studies (iSchool) has been named this year's Katchmar Wilhelm Endowed Professor. This professorship, which spans a three-year period, is intended to assist an associate professor in achieving their career objectives, enhancing their personal and the school's reputation, and ultimately attaining promotion to full professor.

The Katchmar Wilhelm Endowed Professorship was established in 2016, funded by a portion of the bequest that iSchool received from Estelle Wilhelm ’38, ’39 in 2013.

Banks expressed gratitude for the recognition and excitement about her forthcoming work. "I’m so appreciative for this recognition, and I’m excited about the work I’ll be pursuing in the next three years, especially as generative AI and robotics stand to reconfigure how we work, live, socialize and play," she said.

During her tenure as Katchmar Wilhelm Endowed Professor, Banks will focus on researching human experiences with social AI. Her research will delve into people’s interactions with AI companions, including potential risks and benefits. Additionally, she will examine cognitive biases in human-robot interaction—particularly those that foster trust or fear—and how popular media representations of AI and robots influence people’s understanding of these complex technologies.

Banks also shared a personal connection with Estelle Wilhelm, who established the supporting endowment. “In reading about Estelle Wilhelm, the iSchool alum who established the supporting endowment, I learned she was a children’s librarian and a military-base librarian,” Banks said. “I grew up in a military family. The base and local libraries were important places for our family—to learn, to connect and to access the early internet that made our world so much bigger. The work of librarians (like Estelle and other iSchool graduates) touches the lives of so many people, and I don’t think I’d be doing the work I am today without their influence.”