News

UC Berkeley will host its fourth annual National Workshop on Data Science Education for data science instructors on June 14-18. The event is free to attend. Register by clicking on this link. The workshop, to be held online, is organized by Berkeley’s Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society with support from Microsoft and the West Big Data Innovation Hub.

In the wake of the 2019-20 school year, which ended with a pandemic-inflicted ban on graduations, UC Berkeley is allowing this year’s graduates to cap the year in much the same way they experienced it -- online. This year’s ceremonies were a contrast from a year ago when all commencements were canceled. In addition to their online festivities, students were invited to participate in a live, in-person walk across the Greek Theater stage -- socially distanced and masked -- in a live streaming event May 16-21

For the 668 UC Berkeley students who received their Data Science bachelor’s degrees on Saturday, May 15, it was a graduation day like no other, coming on the heels of an academic year like no other. Due to pandemic restrictions, students and their families celebrated their graduation via the program’s first-ever virtual commencement premiering on YouTube. The ceremony featured commencement speakers, student and faculty awards, and a surprise appearance by Cal mascot Oski the Bear.

David Culler, the Friesen Professor of Computer Science, Emeritus at UC Berkeley is the recipient of the Berkeley Citation Award -- one of the university's highest honors. Culler was presented with the award during the online commencement ceremony for Data Sciences Undergraduate Studies on Saturday, May 15.

UC Berkeley Statistics Department Chair and Professor Sandrine Dudoit has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). She was one of 41 IMS Fellows selected in 2021.

John DeNero, an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), has been named the new Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies for the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society at UC Berkeley. He takes on the position with the retirement of Professor Deb Nolan.

This time around, Deb Nolan is definitely going through with her plans to retire. She had been planning to go out in June 2020. In preparation she was taking a class in landscape horticulture at Merritt College in Oakland, with plans to do some serious gardening in retirement. Instead, she was asked to stay on as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the nascent Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) by Jennifer Chayes, the then-newly hired Associate Provost for CDSS. So instead of continuing to learn the Latin names for landscaping plants, Nolan withdrew from the class -- the first biology course she had ever taken --- and agreed to stay on at Berkeley.

Michael I. Jordan, the Pehong Chen Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, has been named one of 10 Foreign Members to the Royal Society. In all, just 62 scientists from around the world were named Royal Society members this year.

The UC Berkeley Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching has presented five Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Awards to instructors in the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society in recognition of their innovative work to keep students engaged while learning remotely during the pandemic.

We’re excited that the Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR), an award-winning journal and a leading voice for data science, is spotlighting the UC Berkeley Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) and its leadership of data science at Berkeley and throughout the UC system.