Beloved professor of computer science dies

By: Jenni Izzo

Posted: 4/20/07

Dr. Pragnesh Jay Modi, a Drexel University professor of computer science, died April 9.

Modi graduated with his Ph.D. from University of Southern California in 2003 and completed a postdoctoral research position at Carnegie Mellon University before he came to Drexel in September 2005.

As a noted rising star in the Artificial Intelligence community, he has received many awards in his field. Most recently, he was the recipient of "AI's Ten to Watch," a prestigious award from IEEE Intelligent Systems Magazine.

"Jay was a valuable member of our department, a great friend, and a wonderful human being," Jeremy Johnson, computer science department head, said in an e-mail. "He will be dearly missed."

His work involved mostly research in Artificial Intelligence and Multi-agent Systems.

His hobbies included snowboarding, scuba diving, and running. He is survived by his parents, Gita and Jayanti Modi of Harrisburg, PA, as well as two brothers and a sister.

The cause of his death was not divulged to The Triangle at the time of publication.