Bashir, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2018, recalled arriving in the United States from Pakistan at age 15 with his older brother. Their parents sent them for higher education with money for only one year and a return ticket, he said. He never imagined he would one day sit before a campus audience pitching himself as chancellor of Wisconsin's flagship public university.

He said he was drawn to UW-Madison's mission that work on campus must extend to all 72 counties and lift everyone up.

The forum, moderated by Annie Jones, a professor in UW-Madison's Division of Extension, drew questions from more than 70 submissions. Bashir addressed a range of topics:

**Artificial intelligence.** Bashir said AI is "moving very fast" and the university must advocate for "the human in the middle" and for responsible AI, including attention to environmental sustainability. "AI needs … a steering wheel so we can guide it," he said. He said undergraduates, graduate students and family members should not use AI the same way, and while it can be a good assistant for administrative tasks, rigorous classroom learning must be preserved.

**Free expression.** Bashir said he sets a ground rule with students "that when we walk away, we're still going to be friends." A university must foster a community where strong, diverse opinions and "productive disagreements" are possible, and where everyone feels safe to engage, he said.

**Sexual assault and hazing.** Reflecting on recent national and local discussions, Bashir said administrators are "entrusted with the lives of these young adults" — a huge responsibility. He said there can be no compromises on making campus as safe as possible and called for a culture of safety so that such incidents "never happen."

**Research growth.** Bashir praised UW-Madison's ranking fifth nationally for $1.93 billion in research expenditures, its best showing since 2014. "I think the campus should be talking about how do you get to top three and top one? And it's not just about the expenditures. It's about the impact," he said. He sees opportunities for more partnerships with industry and federal and state governments. Alongside support for the new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, he said it is "really really important to advocate for and protect the humanities and the creative arts."

The other finalists are John Coleman, provost at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who presents Thursday, and Radenka Maric, president of the University of Connecticut, who presents Friday. Both public events run from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Tripp Commons in Memorial Union and will not be streamed online.

Community members can submit feedback through an online survey until 10:30 a.m. Saturday. A small committee of UW System regents is scheduled to meet Thursday, Friday and Saturday to conduct interviews and consider a recommendation to the full Board of Regents, which will appoint the next chancellor. The selection is expected to start next year.

The new leader would succeed Jennifer Mnookin, who left in May to become president of Columbia University. Eric Wilcots, dean of UW-Madison's largest college, has served as interim chancellor during the search.