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School of Data Science Welcomes Three New Faculty in 2024
The University of Virginia’s School of Data Science welcomes three new faculty in 2024. Their expertise and research priorities include artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Chirag Agarwal
Assistant Professor of Data Science
Chirag Agarwal is an Assistant Professor of Data Science at UVA and leads the Aikyam lab, where he focuses on creating trustworthy machine learning frameworks. His work goes beyond just training models—he's dedicated to ensuring they are explainable, fair, and robust.
Before UVA, Chirag was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University, with a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research on the robustness and explainability of deep neural networks has made significant contributions to the field, especially in evaluating how these models make decisions in critical areas like bail decisions and loan recommendations.
Chirag's work has been recognized at top-tier conferences like NeurIPS, ICML, and CVPR, and he has secured industrial grants from Adobe, Microsoft, and Google.
Fun Fact: "When not researching and reading books, you will find me watching/playing soccer and enjoying Bollywood movies!"
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Mai Dahshan
Assistant Professor of Data Science
Mai Dahshan is a data scientist specializing in intelligent user interfaces and human-AI partnerships. She designs visual analytical systems to explore complex data, focusing on tools that integrate human and artificial intelligence in scientific and healthcare fields. Her work also involves developing predictive models to forecast patterns and integrating data science education into K-2 STEM subjects.
Mai earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech and has degrees from the American University in Cairo and Suez Canal University. Before joining UVA in 2024, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida and a research intern at Los Alamos National Lab.
Fun fact: "I'm a frequent traveler, soccer fan, and enjoy farming."
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Nur Yildirim
Assistant Professor of Data Science
Nur Yildirim is an Assistant Professor of Data Science at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on human-centered and participatory approaches in AI, aiming to translate these technologies into products that benefit society. She also works on creating best practices for AI design, development, and evaluation. Nur previously contributed to AI applications in healthcare at Google Research and Microsoft Research.
She holds a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and degrees in Industrial Design from Middle East Technical University. Nur has also worked as a design consultant, shipping award-winning products in various industries. In 2023, she was named an AI Rising Star by the Michigan AI Lab.
Fun Fact: “I used to perform in musicals and opera as a soprano when I was in college, my favorite role was flying on stage as Fruma Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof.”
