Peter "Pete" Alonzi

Peter Alonzi was appointed Assistant Professor of Data Science at the School of Data Science in 2022, previously serving as lead of research computing. Prior to joining the University of Virginia, Alonzi was a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Washington.

Alonzi’s areas of research include particle physics and the intersection of mental health and the criminal justice system. Since joining the School of Data Science in 2018, he has been an advocate for collaboration across the University. He has partnered with the School of Engineering and Applied Science to study the intersection of criminal justice and mental health; the School of Medicine to study pediatric cardiology; and the Darden School of Business as a member of the Collaboratory for Applied Data Science in Business.

Teaching has also been at the core of Alonzi’s work at the University of Virginia since 2005. During his tenure with the School of Data Science, he has led orientation and technical boot camps for the M.S. in Data Science program, coaches students on advanced computational techniques during their capstone research projects, and serves as co-chair of the undergraduate curriculum committee. Alonzi has also taught a variety of courses at the University, including Data Wrangling in Python and Physics.

Alonzi has worked at several laboratories, including the Paul Scherrer Institute, the largest center for natural and engineering sciences within Switzerland; Fermilab, a lab outside of Chicago, specializing in high-energy particle physics; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy; Jefferson Lab, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory; and TRIUMF, Canada's national particle accelerator center. 

Alonzi holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Virginia and graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Physics from the College of William and Mary.