Purdue offers new undergraduate major in data science

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University will begin offering a major in data science, beginning in the fall semester of 2017.

The new major is a collaboration between the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Statistics, and is also a part of the university-wide Purdue Moves initiative, which was launched by President Mitch Daniels in 2013.

One of the goals of Purdue Moves is to strengthen and expand the Department of Computer Science, furthering the university’s preeminent reputation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“This new major will place students at the forefront of an emerging field and prepare them for an exciting career at the intersection of computer science and statistics,” said Sunil Prabhakar, head of the Department of Computer Science.

Advances in technology have generated heaping quantities of data from sources in all areas of society. As the prevalence of data has increased, businesses in all sectors have realized that they need scientists with the technical knowledge and statistical abilities to analyze, manipulate and act on the available data, then communicate their findings to the world. Glassdoor named the data scientist the No. 1 occupation on a 2017 list of “Best Jobs in America.”

Data science majors will learn about key computational methods and statistical techniques as they develop the deep analytical thinking skills needed to reason reliably, intelligently and creatively from data.

“The data science major will open pathways to careers in virtually every area of society, from healthcare, security and sustainability to education, business and economics,” said Hao Zhang, head of the Department of Statistics.

Writer: Kristyn Childres, 765-494-0669, kristyn@purdue.edu  

Source: Sunil Prabhakar, 765-494-6003, sunil@purdue.edu