“This first cohort of faculty and students are embracing the university’s vision to enable more immediate access downtown to data science and analytics discovery talent,” said David Mongeau, the school’s founding director. “Sitting at the center of San Antonio’s thriving tech corridor, it opens the pathways for limitless industry innovation, as well.”
Mongeau says that the faculty and students will provide the critical mass needed to bring more discoveries and diversity to San Antonio’s growing digital economy, an industry that grew locally during the pandemic, according to a new Brookings Institute study.
Over the last several months, Mongeau worked with college deans and department chairs to determine which of the university’s data science-intensive degree programs and research labs could best advance interdisciplinary collaborations by being under one roof. They agreed to focus on graduate and upper-division students and researchers, which led to the decision to bring five degree programs to the new facility:
- M.S. in Artificial Intelligence
- M.S. in Computer Science with Data Science Concentration
- M.S. in Data Analytics
- M.S. in Statistics and Data Science
- Ph.D. in Applied Statistics
Faculty who primarily teach in these programs were prioritized for a move to the new building and will establish a strong foundation for the school as it opens:
- From the Carlos Alvarez College of Business: Victor De Oliveira, Richard Guo, Max Kilger, Isil Koyuncu, Yeonjoo Park, Arkajyoti Roy, Anthony Rios, Min Wang, Wenbo Wu, Keying Ye and two new hires.
- From the College of Sciences: Murtuza Jadliwala, Jianwei Niu, John Quarles, Paul Rad, Jianhua Ruan, Rocky Slavin and three new hires.
- From the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design: Ethan Ahn, Adel Alaeddini, Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Jeff Prevost, Claire Walton and three new hires.
- From University College: Rebecca Schroeder
The eight new hires among the faculty will bring increased expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, security policy and other areas to UTSA’s data science community.
“Integrating these new faculty members with established faculty and research labs from business, engineering, science and beyond adds another important dimension to the diverse, interdisciplinary data science environment that we need,” said JoAnn Browning, dean of the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
During the fall 2022 semester, the School of Data Science will invite all faculty to become affiliates, and a faculty advisory council has been established to ensure that broad interests in data science and analytics are represented. Members are:
- Adel Alaeddini, Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
- Drew Chapman, Honors College
- Marcus Hamilton, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
- Jeff Howard, College for Health, Community and Policy
- Jianwei Niu, University College and College of Sciences
- Arkajyoti Roy, Alvarez College of Business
- Vanessa Sansone, College of Education and Human Development
- Yufeng Wang, College of Sciences
At least 16 UTSA research centers, institutes and college-level labs will be resident …….
Source: https://www.utsa.edu/today/2022/04/story/school-of-data-science-opens-january-2023.html