Leadership

Clifford Stein

Interim Director

Wai T. Chang Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science

Stein served as chair of Columbia Engineering’s Industrial Engineering and Operations Research department and associate director of research for DSI. His research interests include the design and analysis of algorithms, combinatorial optimization, algorithms for big data, scheduling and algorithm engineering. He has published many influential papers in the leading conferences and journals in his field, and has occupied a variety of editorial positions including the journals ACM Transactions on Algorithms, Mathematical Programming, Journal of Algorithms, SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, and Operations Research Letters. He is the co-author of two textbooks: Introduction to Algorithms with T. Cormen, C. Leiserson, and R. Rivest, which is currently the bestselling textbook in algorithms; and Discrete Math for Computer Scientists with K. Bogart and S. Drysdale. He is also an ACM Fellow and received an NSF Career Award, an Alfred Sloan Research Fellowship, and the Karen Wetterhahn Award for Distinguished Creative or Scholarly Achievement. He received a B.S.E. from Princeton University and M.S. and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Desmond Patton

Associate Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work

Patton utilizes qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine how and why youth and gang violence, trauma, grief, and identity are expressed on social media and the real world impact they have on well-being for low-income youth of color. His research on internet banging has been featured by the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, NPR, Boston Magazine, and ABC News. He was also cited in an amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Elonis vs. United States case, which examined the issues of interpreting threats on social media. Before coming to Columbia in 2015, Patton was an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and School of Information. He received a B.A. in Anthropology and Political Science with honors from the University of North CarolinaGreensboro, M.S.W. from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and Ph.D. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. Ming Yuan

Associate Director for Academic Affairs

Professor of Statistics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Yuan served as Senior Investigator in Virology at Morgridge Institute for Research, Professor of Statistics at University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Coca-Cola Junior Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. His research and teaching interests lie broadly in statistics and its interface with other quantitative and computational fields such as optimization, machine learning, computational biology, and financial engineering and he has more than 100 scientific publications. Yuan was a Medallion Lecturer for the Institute for Mathematical Statistics (2018) and a recipient of the International Biometrics Society’s John van Ryzin Award (2004), the National Science Foundation Career Award (2009), the Royal Statistical Society’s Guy Medal in Bronze (2014), and the American Statistical Association’s Leo Breiman Junior Researcher Award (2017). He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Information Sciences and M.S. in Probability and Statistics from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his M.S. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ralph Scala

Director of Development

Scala joined the Office of Alumni and Development in November 2017 to lead a comprehensive cross-campus fundraising effort for the Data Science Institute. He creates and manages a development plan to support the Institute and Columbia’s strategic mission and goals. He has more than 28 years of development-related experience at leading universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, Harvard University, and Cornell University, and prestigious arts organizations, including The Boston Ballet, and Peabody Essex Museum,. Ralph received his B.S. in industrial engineering and M.B.A. from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Sharon Sputz

Executive Director of Strategic Programs

Sputz has combined experience in business strategy and technical research. Prior to joining the Data Science Institute in 2014, she spent 11 years at BAE Systems identifying and pursuing new business opportunities in leading edge technology. Sputz began her career at Bell Laboratories managing and coordinating material characterization and developing new and innovative tools. She moved on to become the strategic marketing manager at Lucent/ Agere with a variety of responsibilities, from leading the technical evaluation of merger and acquisition candidates to defining product planning for the optical networking group and components. Sharon received a B.S. in physics from State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.S. in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Jonathan Stark

Chief Administrative and Operations Officer

Stark has managerial responsibilities for human resources, finance, space, facilities, and information technology. He also supports the Institute’s strategic planning and execution and a broad portfolio of educational, research, and outreach programs. Prior to joining DSI, he served as assistant dean of graduate student and postdoctoral affairs and student affairs officer for the Office of Graduate Student Affairs for the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. His expertise includes academic administration, student development and advising, conflict resolution, university admissions, event planning, and management. Stark holds a B.A. in psychology from Western Connecticut State University, an M.A. in applied organizational psychology from Fairfield University, an M.A. in higher education from Teachers College of Columbia University, and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Amber E.H. Tingle

Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Media Relations

Tingle joined the Data Science Institute in October 2019 with extensive experience in public relations, media relations, content development, and creative direction. She previously served as a director of communications in the State University of New York system, public relations specialist for Rutgers University, beauty and accessories editor for Uptown Magazine, and content producer for Harriette Cole Media.Tingle is also a “triple threat” performer with Broadway, off-Broadway, television, and film credits. She is an alumna of Howard University (B.A., summa cum laude, journalism) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., communication), and an active member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, MasterVoices, and The Links, Inc.