TORONTO: The University of Toronto (U of T) on Wednesday announced the creation of a new endowed academic post — the Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence — funded by a $10 million donation from Google to honor the legacy of AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton.
Under the terms of the arrangement, U of T will match Google’s gift with another $10 million, bringing the total endowment for the chair to $20 million — one of the university’s largest and most generously supported research positions.
The Hinton Chair aims to attract and retain a globally recognized researcher in AI who can build on Hinton’s foundational contributions to deep learning.
The role is part of U of T’s “Third‑Century Chairs” program, designed to bring in visionary scholars capable of driving transformative research in critical areas.
According to U of T President Melanie A. Woodin, the new chair will help the university “advance our record of transformational research in fields of crucial importance to the world.”
Beyond honoring Hinton’s legacy, the endowed chair is expected to:
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Foster curiosity‑driven, fundamental AI research that can lead to breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, science, humanities and more.
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Help recruit and train top-tier students and researchers, strengthening U of T’s AI ecosystem and global academic networks.
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Support the emergence of new AI‑driven innovations and startups, leveraging U of T’s established strength in AI research and entrepreneurship.
Hinton — often described as the “godfather of modern AI” — laid the groundwork for neural networks, backpropagation, and deep‑learning architectures that underpin recent AI revolutions.
According to Hinton, the new chair will support “exactly that kind of curiosity‑driven inquiry,” giving future researchers the freedom to explore bold ideas — a hallmark of his own academic journey.
This move by Google and U of T underscores their long‑standing partnership to foster high‑impact fundamental research. The Hinton Chair is being hailed as a key step toward shaping the next generation of AI breakthroughs — research decoupled from immediate commercial gain, and firmly rooted in curiosity, academic freedom, and long‑term promise.
