Larry Medsker

Larry Medsker
Occupation	Physicist, data scientist
Alma mater	Indiana University

Larry Medsker is a physicist and data scientist who serves as a research professor of physics at the University of Vermont. He was the founding director of the data science program at George Washington University.

Education

Medsker received a Ph.D. in physics from Indiana University, completing his studies between 1965 and 1971.

Career

From 2016 to 2019, Medsker served as founding director of the data science program at George Washington University. Since 2022, he has held a position as research professor of physics at the University of Vermont.

Research

According to Semantic Scholar, Medsker has published 12 papers that have collectively received 2 citations, with an h-index of 1. His work spans applications of independent component analysis in physics as well as writing on artificial intelligence ethics and policy, including contributions on agentic AI systems and automated vehicles.

Medsker has received funding from the National Science Foundation across multiple institutional affiliations. According to National Science Foundation records, he was awarded eight grants totaling $2,922,650, including "STEM Teaching Excellence in High-Need Schools: Teacher Preparation in the Nation's Capital" ($1,496,905) at George Washington University beginning March 23, 2017; "Scholarships for Tech Valley Scholars in Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences" ($618,689) at Siena University beginning April 6, 2014; "Educating Scientists for Tech Valley: A Cohort Scholars Program" ($598,852) at Siena University beginning April 24, 2008; "Research Experiences for Undergraduates - Intelligent Systems Research" ($64,863) at American University beginning May 30, 1991; and "Intelligent Systems Laboratory" ($35,625) at American University beginning April 4, 1991.

Selected publications

• "ACM TechBrief: Agentic AI: Autonomy, Opportunities, and Challenges of Action-Taking AI Systems" (2026)
• "ACM TechBrief: Automated Vehicles" (2024)
• "Independent component analysis applications in physics", Proceedings, 2005 IEEE International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (2005)
• "AI Ethics and Policy Column - The Accountability Vacuum: Agentic AI in High-Stakes Domains", AI Matters (2026)
• "AI Ethics & Policy Column: Top AI Ethics and Policy Issues of 2025 and What to Expect in 2026", AI Matters (2026)
• "Autonomous Trucks", MOJ Applied Bionics and Biomechanics (2024)
• "AI Policy Matters", AI Matters (2023)
• "SIGAI Annual Report: July 1 2022 --- August 30 2023", AI Matters (2023)
• "AI policy matters", AI Matters (2020)

External links

• Larry Medsker's ORCID profile