A-State News
Wimpy Selected for Inaugural Oxford AI Governance Program for Social Scientists
Dr. Cameron Wimpy, associate professor and chair of the Department of Government, Law and Policy at Arkansas State University, was selected for the inaugural AI Academic Upskilling Program for Social Scientists, hosted by the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative at the University of Oxford.
The program trains a small cohort of established scholars to strengthen the role of social science in debates over how AI is governed, drawing on AI researchers and policy experts from academia, industry, government and organisations around the world. Weekly online sessions over the summer and early fall led to intensive training in Oxford.
AI is already in the county courthouse
Dr. Wimpy’s application argued that election administration and rural public policy are places where AI is arriving with almost no governance framework — voter-roll maintenance software, signature-matching tools, records management and chatbots pitched to small offices.
“The questions that matter most about AI right now are not primarily technical ones. Rather, they’re about institutions, incentives, public trust, regulation, and who bears the risk when things go wrong.” — Dr. Cameron Wimpy
Why it matters
For students of political science, law, public policy or public administration, learning from faculty who take part in international AI policy discussions is a real advantage. A-State also runs an online Master of Public Administration with more than 300 students.
Source: Arkansas State University news release, 22 October 2026 — astate.edu.
