December 4, 2019
Prabhakar stepping down as Integrative Data Science Initiative inaugural director
Sunil Prabhakar, inaugural director of the Integrative Data Science Initiative and professor of computer science, has announced that he will step down from his role as director on Dec. 31.
“Last year, the Board of Trustees added Data Sciences to Purdue Moves, formalizing the University’s commitment to enhance and elevate data science research and education at Purdue University,” says Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “We are very grateful to Dr. Prabhakar for leading the launch of IDSI, and we remain committed to advancing Purdue’s ‘data science for all’ ecosystem and furthering data science research and partnership opportunities.
“Dr. Prabhakar was the right person to take the work of the various data science planning groups and turn that vision into reality.”
Under Prabhakar’s leadership, the IDSI has made substantive progress. The data science ecosystem has grown through new course offerings and modules. A campus-wide Data Science Applications Certificate was launched, and the living learning community known as the Data Mine, led by Mark Ward, professor of statistics, grew from 100 students to 600 undergrads representing 20 majors. Collaborative teams formed in response to competitive internal seed grants for data science research and education have generated more than $11 million in externally sponsored awards and 35 published papers. In addition, a Data Science Consulting Service is supporting research and education on a growing number of projects.
IDSI hosted multiple workshops, bringing distinguished speakers to campus and culminating in a Purdue Ideas Festival summit with 90 participants attending. The summit, co-hosted by the Purdue Center for Science of Information, explored the idea “What If Partnerships Led the Data Revolution.”
“Dr. Prabhakar has done an outstanding job leading the Integrative Data Science Initiative through its first year,” says Theresa Mayer, executive vice president for research and partnerships. “We have a strong foundation on which to build based on the many achievements made by Dr. Prabhakar and his staff.”
Prabhakar will return to his research in data management which is focused on developing novel database systems for managing probabilistic or uncertain data, and ensuring authenticity and integrity of outsourced databases. He also looks forward to continuing his work on the development of the Data Science Connector Modules in the College of Science for online graduate training.
Prabhakar says, “Given the caliber of Purdue faculty and students, we are well positioned to be a leader in data science and in addressing the needs of the global data science economy. There is an especially pressing opportunity to address workforce needs within the state of Indiana. I am grateful to many of my colleagues for their collaboration and support and for the opportunity to serve in the inaugural leadership role.”
Transition leadership plans for the IDSI will be announced in the coming weeks.
About Integrative Data Science Initiative
Integrative Data Science Initiative is designed to build on and advance Purdue's existing strengths to position the University as a leader at the forefront of advancing data science-enabled research and education, by tightly coupling theory, discovery and applications while providing students with an integrated, data science-fluent campus ecosystem.
Related website
Source: Sunil Prabhakar, sunil@purdue.edu, 765-494-5736
Writer: Pamela Burroff-Murr, burroff@purdue.edu, 765-496-3381
