School of Data Science Welcomes 10 New Faculty To Teaching and Research Teams
The School of Data Science continues to grow and welcomed 10 new faculty this year to their teaching and research teams. They hail from both industry and academia, bringing with them years of experience in areas such as AI, biostatistics, communication, computer vision, data science, machine learning, project management, and statistical modeling.
Stephen Baek
Associate Professor
Baek is an applied geometer, scientist, and entrepreneur. He studies the space of shapes using machine learning. Baek’s background is in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Fun fact: “I enjoy playing baseball and used to play in an amateur baseball league. I was an all-star first baseman in the 2012 SNU League All-Stars at Seoul National University.”
Contact Info: mwn4yc@virginia.edu
Jeffrey Blume
Quantitative Foundation Associate Dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs
Blume is a leading expert in biostatistics, data science, and education administration. His research interests include statistical inference, prediction modeling, and statistical methods for clinical trials. While previously at Vanderbilt, Blume established a Ph.D. in Biostatistics and an M.S. in Data Science.
Contact Info: blume@virginia.edu
Jeremy Bolton
Assistant Professor
Bolton’s research interests include machine learning, computer vision, data science, statistical modeling, remote sensing, signal processing, pattern recognition, AI, big data, and large scale project management and design. Prior to joining SDS, he taught at Georgetown University.
Fun fact: "I am an avid gardener and tend to a large, 1-acre plot!"
Contact Info: hms5sr@virginia.edu
Judy Fox
Associate Professor
Fox is currently working toward establishing a Ph.D. program at the School of Data Science. Her research focuses on designing experimental systems that enable data science, machine learning, and the Internet of things applications to harness the computational resources of Cloud and HPC platforms effectively.
Fun fact: "When I was traveling on a flight outbound from Indianapolis, the passenger seated next to me chatted about he and his friends coming from Australia to watch the Indy500 racing car event. He could not believe that I had never watched a game before even as a local resident. Surprisingly, I was not only involved with the IndyCar company for their big data project but also invited to visit the Andretti racing car team and facilities. It was my first time at a car race and was told the car raced at 200 miles per hour. It was a truly exciting experience. I of course politely refused to sit in the racing car."
Contact Info: ckw9mp@virginia.edu
Teague Henry
Assistant Professor
Henry’s research focuses on developing new statistical techniques for modeling network and dynamical systems data, with applications to personalized medicine, neuroimaging and predictive modeling. After earning his PH.D. in Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology, Henry worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, followed by a position as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh.
Fun fact: “I have training in Shakespearean theatre and musical theatre.”
Contact Info: ycp6wm@virginia.edu
Jess Reia
Assistant Professor
Reia’s research interests and advocacy sit at the intersection of communication, law, science, and technology. Most recently, Reia was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University.
Fun fact: “I was trained as a botanical illustrator at the National School of Tropical Botany in Rio, and I love botanical gardens and community gardening.”
Contact Info: dda8tz@virginia.edu
Siri Russell
Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Russell most recently served as the inaugural Director of Equity & Inclusion for Albemarle County, where she led the creation and implementation of the County’s DEI program and initiatives. Her work was extensive and impactful, ranging from revising diversity recruitment strategies to creating a framework for assessing the equity impacts of policies, practices, and legislative actions.
Fun fact: "At around 8 years old, I started wishing that I would one day be a famous musician invited to play an MTV Unplugged set where I would cover the Eagles’ Hotel California. Since this was a dream, it included Eric Clapton joining me for the guitar solo. No, I do not play guitar and no I am not willing to admit when this particular dream died."
Contact Info: ss55v@virginia.edu
Youmi Suk
Assistant Professor
Suk joins SDS with a background in quantitative methods in educational psychology. Her research interests include causal inference and multilevel modeling, with recent publications including regression discontinuity designs and robust machine learning for treatment effects in multilevel observational studies.
Fun fact: “During my junior year, I taught science and how to dance “Gangnam Style” to students in a middle school in Utah as a student teacher.”
Contact Info: eub6uw@virginia.edu
Adam Tashman
Associate Professor, Director of the Online M.S. in Data Science Program
Tashman has extensive industry experience in data science, artificial intelligence, quantitative analysis, finance, and biostatistics. His research interests include natural language processing, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, biomedical informatics, and quantitative finance.
Fun Fact: "I can't whistle, but I can juggle. I've programmed in 12 different languages."
Contact Info: apt4c@virginia.edu
Eric Tassone
Associate Professor
Tassone’s work sits at the intersection of data science and business. He joins SDS from Google where he led data science projects on Search, time series forecasting, and YouTube. Tassone is co-teaching an MBA elective at the Darden School of Business on experimentation.
Fun fact: “I am a parent to twin girls. I used to practice law after graduating from UVA Law ('98) and remain a member of the Florida Bar.”
Contact Info: ect4u@virginia.edu