Date: March 8, 2023
TO: The NYU Center for Data Science Community
FROM: Andrew Hamilton, President; Linda Mills, President-Designate; and Gigi Dopico, Interim Provost

In November we wrote to you with the news that Julia Kempe had decided to step down as director of NYU’s Center for Data Science (CDS). Today we are writing to update you with the good news that Carlos Fernandez-Granda, associate professor of mathematics and data science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Center for Data Science, has graciously agreed to take on the role of interim director of CDS, effective September 1, 2023.

We’re very grateful to Carlos for taking on this responsibility. Since its inception, the range and impact of the Center’s work has increased considerably. Many disciplines are eager to make use of, and many students are eager to learn about, data science because of its extensive influence in a wide range of fields. Accordingly, the need for ongoing strong and thoughtful leadership of the Center is great.

No doubt many of you know Carlos well already. Carlos—whose scholarly interest focuses on the design and analysis of data-science methodology, and in particular on machine learning and its application to medicine, climate science, and scientific imaging—first joined NYU’s faculty in 2015 after being a Google postdoctoral researcher in 2014-2015. At CDS, he has served as the director of graduate studies, the director of admissions for the PhD program, and the director of the medical data science PhD track, among other roles.  

He is and has been the PI or co-PI on numerous projects funded by the NSF, the NIH, and foundations, and he has published widely in his fields of scholarly interest. He received his PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University, his MSc in machine learning from L’École Normale Supérieure de Cachan in Paris, and undertook his undergraduate studies in engineering at L’École des Mines in Paris (Cycle Ingénieur Civil) and at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Ingeniero Superior de Telecomunicación).

We have great confidence in Carlos. Please join us in thanking him for taking on this assignment and congratulating him on being named interim director of CDS. And please join us as well in once again thanking Julia Kempe for her years of dedicated service as director.