DATA SCIENCE - Key Persons
Bio: Aakash was a PhD student at NYU Center for Data Science. He was interested in solving problems in the healthcare domain using machine learning. He worked with Prof. and CDS Interim Director Carlos Fernandez-Granda and Prof. Heidi Schambra on activity recognition task in stroke patients and with Prof. Narges Razavian and Prof. Yvonne Lui in the field of medical imaging and deep learning. Prior to joining the PhD program, he obtained a Master's degree from NYU CDS where he worked on domain adaptation and medical image segmentation under the guidance of Prof. Carlos and Prof. Narges. He also has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore where he was on the Dean's Merit List, which is awarded to the top 5% students. Post-MBA, Aakash worked as a management consultant for more than a year. He also holds a bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. In his leisure time, he loves to play cricket and read books.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Executive Assistant at the NYU Center
Bio: Aimee-Catherine Zambrana is an Executive Assistant at the NYU Center for Data Science. She is the contact for the Director's schedule as well as the scheduling of various CDS faculty committee meetings. Aimee is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and worked as an administrative aide in various industries before joining the CDS team. Her curious nature and hunger for the answers to life's questions bring her back to science every time.
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- Research Fellowship ( 2018 )
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- Director of Graduate Studies, MS & Assistant Professor of Music Technology and
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- Undergraduate Program Administrator
Bio: Caleb Chrisley is the Undergraduate Program Administrator. In this role, he provides academic and career counseling, advises undergraduate student clubs, builds community within CDS and deals with administrative affairs. Caleb is from rural Virginia and went to college in the Washington D.C. Metro-Area at George Mason University where he studied Anthropology and English. Caleb loves working in higher education, because he is able to alleviate stress from students' academic lives and ensure that they are on the right path to be successful while supporting their overall personal and professional achievements. When he is not advising students, you can find him skateboarding around the Brooklyn borough, enjoying delicious vegan cuisine, supporting his friends at a drag show, practicing yoga or creating a new artistic project with woodworking.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- CDS Interim Director & Associate Professor of Mathematics and
- Professor Jonathan Niles - Weed
Bio: Sheng Liu was a Ph.D. student at the Center for Data Science, NYU, co-advised by Professor Carlos Fernandez-Granda, Professor Jonathan Niles-Weed, and Professor Narges Razavian. His research interests were in the general area of machine learning, particularly in robust deep learning with imperfect datasets (corrupted data, limited supervision, small dataset, etc.) as well as their medical applications such as Alzheimer's automatic detection. He was a member of the Math and Data (MAD) group at NYU where he worked on inverse problems and optimization. Out of school, he loves tennis, scuba diving, surfing and most water sports.
Bio: Carlos is the CDS Interim Director and an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Data Science. His research group designs and analyzes data-science methodology. Currently, their main focus is machine learning, and its application to medicine, computational biology, climate science and scientific imaging.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Operations at the NYU Center
Bio: Chastity Hidalgo is the Assistant Director of Operations at the NYU Center for Data Science (CDS), where she ensures the smooth running of day-to-day operations. She focuses on optimizing processes, improving efficiency, and helping CDS achieve its goals with operational excellence. A Bronx native, Chastity holds a BA from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she double majored in Writing and Rhetoric and Spanish and Hispanic Studies. Outside of work, Chastity loves catching the latest movies, binge-watching TV shows, and spending time with friends. She also loves spoiling her two dogs, Atticus and Baek, who never fail to keep her entertained with their antics.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor in
- Dir. Graduate Studies for PhD Program / Admissions & Associate Professor of Neural Science and
Bio: Cristina Savin is an Associate Professor in Data Science and Neural Science. Her research focuses on understanding principles and biological substrates of adaptive computation across a range of problems including context dependent information processing, probabilistic computation and its neural basis, statistics of neural population responses during behavior, approximate inference, online learning, time series, neuroAI.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Professor of Neural Science, Mathematics, Data Science, and Psychology
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Professor of Entrepreneurship, Data Science, and Information Systems
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Academic and Student Affairs
Bio: Francheska Jimenez is the Assistant Director of Academic and Student Affairs. She provides academic support to graduate students and facilitates social programming at CDS. She has a BA in English and MA in Higher Education Administration from Stony Brook University, and is a first-generation graduate in her family! She is now pursuing an PhD in Higher & Postsecondary Education at Teachers College. Prior to working in higher ed, Francheska spent many years working in Harlem, mainly at a charter school network and non-profit organization. In her spare time she enjoys creating art, visiting galleries and museums, traveling, and listening to podcasts.
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- Managing Director, Public Affairs
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- Professor of Computer Science and
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- Member of the Leadership Team
- Deputy Director & Associate Professor of Mathematics and
Bio: Jonathan Niles-Weed is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Data Science at New York University. He studies mathematical statistics, the mathematics of data science, and applications of optimal transport in statistics, probability, and machine learning. Prior to joining NYU, he earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent a year as a Postdoctoral Member at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Job Titles:
- Silver Professor of Computer Science, Mathematics, and
Bio: Julia Kempe is a Silver Professor of Computer Science, Mathematics and Data Science at the Center for Data Science and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, and a Visiting Senior Researcher at Meta FAIR. From 2018-2023 she was the Director of NYU's Center for Data Science and a member of the NYU's Senior Leadership. From 2011-18 she worked as a quantitative researcher in finance. Before that she was a Research Director at the CNRS in Computer Science in Paris, and Associate Professor of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University. Her current interests are in Machine Learning, with focus on learning theory, adversarial robustness, properties of data as well machine learning and AI for science and mathematics. Her pasts works focused on quantum computing and quantum complexity. Her awards include the CNRS Bronze Medal, Knighthood in the French Order of Merit, and Membership in the Academia Europea.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director
- Senior Director, Academic Affairs and Operations
Bio: Kathryn is the Senior Director, Academic Affairs and Operations at the NYU Center for Data Science. In this role, she oversees academic programs, administration, and operations at CDS. She also advises PhD students on their degree requirements and milestones. Prior to NYU, Kathryn worked in student services at Columbia University and in higher education planning and reform at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She received her bachelor's in Psychology from Vassar College and her master's in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Higher Education and Student Affairs from George Mason University, where she studied the college knowledge students need for a successful transition from high school to college.
Job Titles:
- Director of Undergraduate Studies & Clinical Assistant Professor
Research Areas: Mathematical statistics, probabilistic inference, mathematics of data science
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Mathematics and
Job Titles:
- Clinical Assistant Professor
Bio: Sidharth is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Center for Data Science. His teaching interests include empirical research methodologies, with a focus on causal inference, along with general data science topics. Prior to joining NYU, Sidharth completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago. His research centers on the economics of education, with a particular interest in the determinants of major choice among college students and gender differences in major uptake and completion.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Computer Science
Job Titles:
- Science Writer at the NYU Center
Bio: Stephen is a Science Writer at the NYU Center for Data Science. He has a background in journalism, writing most recently for Wired. He has a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Toronto and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama. He has previously worked with the Forecasting Research Institute, the AI Safety Field Building Hub, and Arb Research on various issues related to AI. He has also published a book of short stories.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of
- Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs
- Associate Director of Academic and Student Affairs
- Student Recruiting and Employment
Bio: Tim is the Associate Director of Academic and Student Affairs. In this role, he oversees the overall operation of undergraduate programs in data science. This includes student advising, managing undergraduate career placement and professional development, policy reviews, communications, and management of special undergraduate programs and events that are funded by external partners. Tim also develops and implements student research initiatives for both MS and undergraduate students.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Graduate Programs
Bio: Tina is the Assistant Director of Graduate Programs. Her responsibilities include graduate academic affairs, MS student advising, and graduate admissions. Tina completed her B.A. in East Asian Studies at Northwestern University and her M.A. in International Education at NYU Steinhardt. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, arts and crafts, and trying new food offerings around the city.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Director of Industry Relations & Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Mathematics and
- Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Data Science at Courant
Bio: Yanjun is an assistant professor of mathematics and data science at Courant math and CDS. He is broadly interested in the mathematics of data science, including statistics, online learning and bandits, information theory, and machine learning. Before joining NYU, he received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford, and was a Simons postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley and a Norbert Wiener fellow at MIT.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Committee
- Professor of Computer Science, Neural Science, Data Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Career Development
- Assistant Director of Career Development & Industry Relations
Bio: Zoë Levin is the Assistant Director of Career Development. In this role, she provides career coaching, career educational programs, and works with employers to connect CDS students with career opportunities. She has her BA in Psychology from Carleton College in Minnesota and her MA in Higher Education, with a concentration in Diversity and Social Justice, from University of Michigan. Zoë has professional experience within higher education in diversity and inclusion, academic advising, LGBTQ+ services, intergroup dialogue, and career services. In her spare time she enjoys going to the theater, reading (especially on a breezy day in Prospect Park), and the occasional trip upstate.