With great fanfare, the University of Virginia Friday announced it would open a school of data science with the largest donation ever received.
As a student at the University of Virginia, Jaffray Woodriff was fascinated by how computers and data could help people to adapt to the world around them.
" I spent 48 gloriously creative hours discovering my own data science algorhythm," he told a crowd of administrators, politicians and reporters. "It was during that double all-nighter over here in the engineering school that I first glimpsed the remarkably broad possibilities of data science."
Woodriff, for example, founded a company that made him rich by using data alone to guide investments. It is also changing the way doctors practice medicine, making it possible for cars to drive themselves, helping government officials to craft better policies and improve the environment, but Woodriff admitted there’s a dark side to this stuff.
“Data science can and has been used with ill intention, and I foresee the University of Virginia taking a lead role in evaluating and developing responsible policy with respect to the ethics and regulation of data science.”
To jump start both, Woodriff has donated $120 million – the largest gift ever to UVA.
On hand to welcome the new school, Governor Ralph Northam, who predicted it would be good for economic development in the state.
“We’re already attracting tech jobs in the state, but to continue that progress we must build up our workforce even more," Northam said. "When I talk to companies looking to locate in Virginia, their number one question is whether we have the workforce to fill their jobs.”
Senator Tim Kaine sent a staffer to read a statement. Senator Mark Warner showed up on video tape, and providing a moment of levity, the district’s newly elected congressman, Denver Riggleman, who recalled his days at UVA.
“I got my first D-minus here ," he admitted. The crowd laughed as Riggleman stressed that he had graduated and gone on to a career in military intelligence, where big data is invaluable.
“Sometimes I was a little confused, but that’s okay. Liberal arts majors can learn. It just takes us a little bit longer,” he joked.
And then he turned the page.
“I did not read one word out of this speech. I don’t know why I turned the page,” he confessed.
The new school will initially enroll about 200 graduate students, perhaps a thousand undergrads and will offer certification in data science. It will also share expertise with every other part of the university, while taking fees and grants from government and the private sector to do research.
Editor's Note: The University of Virginia is a financial supporter of Radio IQ.