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University of Alberta’s dean of science, artificial intelligence pioneer Jonathan Schaeffer, has resigned from his position effective Oct. 1 citing decisions made by the university’s leadership that he “cannot support.”

In a resignation letter circulated to staff Wednesday, Schaeffer said it was a “difficult decision.”

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“The University of Alberta has changed a lot in the last three years,” he wrote.

“The university’s leadership has made decisions and taken actions that I cannot support. Therefore, the faculty of science would be better served by a different leader, one who is more in line with the expectations of the president and provost.”

Schaeffer did not specify what the decisions and actions were that led to his resignation. Staff in his office said Thursday morning he was not available for comment.

Provost and vice-president academic, Steven Dew, issued a statement on the university’s website Thursday afternoon thanking Schaeffer for his service as dean and highlighted his many achievements at the U of A including his role in helping bring DeepMind, Google’s artificial intelligence research lab, to the city.