The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Leadership

Director

Andrew McCallum

The Center for Data Science is directed by Distinguished Professor Andrew McCallum, an international leader in the fields of machine learning, information extraction and social network analysis. He is the current president of the International Machine Learning Society and among the most highly cited researchers internationally in the field of natural language processing. In the early 2000’s he was vice president of research and development at WhizBang Labs, a 170-person start-up company, and he has collaborated with more than 20 companies since joining the UMass Amherst faculty in 2003.

 

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Rochester (1995), B.S., Dartmouth College (1989, summa cum laude). Professor McCallum joined the faculty of the Department of Computer Science as a Research Associate Professor in 2002 and became an Associate Professor in 2003 (awarded tenure in 2007). Previously, he was Vice President of Research and Development at WhizBang Labs, and Director of their 30-person research and development lab in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to joining WhizBang, he was a Research Scientist and Research Coordinator at Just Research (Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center), where he spearheaded the development of technology for statistical text processing. In 1996, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University.

 

Executive Director

Brant A. Cheikes

Brant is responsible for building, developing, and managing the full range of research, educational and operational activities of the Center for Data Science. Brant comes to UMass from The MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, where he held a variety of technical and management positions over the course of a 23-year career. Brant’s advanced technology work spans Artificial Intelligence applied to education & training, cognitive support tools for analysis and decision-making tasks, large-scale data analysis of scientific and patent literatures, and most recently, technical standards for automation of cyberdefense systems. Brant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Boston University, and Master’s and doctoral degrees in Computer and Information Science (Computational Linguistics) from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Senior Data Scientist

Tom Bernardin

Tom is responsible for the applied data science work undertaken by the Center for Data Science. Together with industry, nonprofit, and campus partners, he identifies and scopes data science problems and develops appropriate solutions. Tom draws on our faculty’s expertise and manages graduate student teams, in order to solve the data science challenges faced by our partner organizations. He has spent time in both academia and industry. Before joining CDS, Tom was a data scientist in the alternative finance data space in New York City. He holds a B.S. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and a Ph.D. in economics from UMass.

Director of Educational Programs

Benjamin Marlin

Professor Benjamin Marlin serves as the Director of Educational Programs for the Center for Data Science. His responsibilities include supporting the development of new data science courses, leading the development of new data science educational programs, and managing existing programs. Professor Marlin co-directs the Machine Learning for Data Science Laboratory where his research focuses on probabilistic modeling of time series data with applications to clinical and mobile health. He also co-directs the College of Information and Computer Sciences' NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program in Data Science. 

Technical Director of Community Initiatives

Matthew Rattigan

Matt is the Technical Director of Community Initiatives. In this role he develops new data science projects with non-profit organizations and public sector agencies. Matt defines technical objectives, evaluates datasets, helps build project teams, and engages faculty expertise within CICS as well as across UMass and the Five Colleges as needed. During project execution, Matt provides technical guidance and supervision to all projects. Before joining CDS, Matt co-founded Edgeflip, a data-intensive social media startup focused serving social good organizations.  In 2012, Matt was a part of the transformational analytics team at Obama For America, where he led the campaign's targeted social media efforts.  He has also worked as a data scientist in the financial services industry.  Matt holds a BA from Wesleyan University, and an MA and PhD in Computer Science from UMass.

Associate Director of Strategic Communications

Jennifer Page

Jennifer is responsible for communications and marketing for the center. Prior to coming to CDS she managed the UMass Amherst Community Campaign, and served as an instructional designer for UMass CP&E. Jennifer came to UMass after 18 years as a data analyst in the consumer products industry. She has served on the board of directors of several local nonprofits, including the Northampton Community Music Center and the Amherst Education Foundation. Jennifer has a B.S. in mathematics from Tufts University.

Assistant Director of Information Technology

Dan Parker

Dan Parker designs, installs, configures and maintains the computing resources used by the Center for Data Science. He has been helping the digital trains run on time since graduating from Castleton University in 1995 with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems.

Business Management Team

Yvonne Crevier

Yvonne is responsible for financial management and grants administration for the Center for Data Science. She joined CDS after ten years as a Business Manager at UMass. Prior to UMass her background includes a range of financial management experience from working as a Certified Financial Planner to providing accounting services to small businesses and being part of the management team of a dot com startup. She has a B.A. in English from UMass Amherst. 

Matthew Lustig

Matt coordinates grants and contracts and serves as the financial manager for the Center for Data Science. Prior to joining CDS, Matt managed programs at healthcare institutions designed to improve outcomes while reducing health care costs. Matt is also an experienced city planner and teacher. He has a B.A. in Government and Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University, an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana and a Master of Urban & Regional Planning from Portland State University.

Project Coordinator

Nancy Fontes

Nancy supports the Center for Data Science with various projects including event planning for special events and Industry Affiliates Program.  Nancy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Elms College. She has spent several years in the banking industry before working in higher education. Most recently, Nancy was employed at Bay Path University as Coordinator of Institutional Research.

Office Administrator

Elena Hayes

Elena supports the Center for Data Science in many ways including scheduling, purchasing and reimbursements. Elena previously worked for Davenport Trucking in Greenfield, MA providing administrative support and project management. She graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in Kinesiology. 

Executive Committee

James Allan

Professor and Chair

Ph.D., Computer Science, Cornell University (1995), M.S., Computer Science, Cornell University (1991), A.B., Mathematics, Grinnell College (1983). Professor Allan joined the Computer Science Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1994 and has run through a number of titles, most recently Professor as of 2008. He is currently serving as Chair of the Faculty and is co-Director of the Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval (CIIR).

Erik Learned-Miller

Professor

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2002), M.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1997), B.A., Psychology, Yale University (1988). Professor Learned-Miller joined the faculty in the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Information and Computer Sciences in 2004 as an Assistant Professor. His most recent position was a post-doctoral research engineer in the Electronics Research Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, Professor Learned-Miller was the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of CORITechs, Inc., a company that designed surgical planning software for neurosurgeons.

Benjamin Marlin

Associate Professor

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Toronto (2008), M.S., Computer Science, University of Toronto (2004), B.S., Mathematics and Computer Science, McGill University (2002). Professor Marlin joined the faculty of the Department of Computer Science as an Assistant Professor in 2011. From 2008 to 2011, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia.

Andrew McGregor

Associate Professor

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania (2007), M.Eng, Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania (2002), Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics, University of Cambridge (2001), B.A., Mathematics, University of Cambridge (2000). Professor McGregor joined the College of Information and Computer Sciences of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Spring 2009 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to this he spent two years at the Information Theory and Applications Center at the University of California, San Diego and at Microsoft Research, Silicon Valley.

Alexandra Meliou

Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley (2009); M.S., Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley (2005); B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (2003). Professor Meliou joined the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2012. Prior to this, she spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington.

Gerome Miklau

Professor

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Washington, 2005. Professor Miklau joined the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in 2005.

Barna Saha

Assistant Professor

Barna Saha is an Assistant Professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland College Park in August 2011. From August 2011 till July 2014, she was a research scientist at AT&T Shannon Laboratories. Barna received an M.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a B.E. in Computer Science and Engineering from Jadavpur University.

Prashant Shenoy

Professor

Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin (1998), M.S. Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin (1994), B.Tech, Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1993). Professor Shenoy has been on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 1998, where he is currently a Professor of Computer Science. He heads the Laboratory for Advanced Systems Software at UMass Amherst.
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