Professor of Mathematics & Statistics Eric Kolaczyk became the new Director of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering on January 15. Eric, who has been a member of the BU faculty since 1998, was previously director of his department’s Program in Statistics and is the founding director of the MS in Statistical Practice (MSSP) program and its statistical consulting group. He’s an internationally recognized leader whose applied work has had broad implications in areas including bioinformatics, computational neuroscience, computer network traffic analysis, and social work. As Director of the Hariri Institute, he will build on the Institute’s success in fostering collaborative research that connects faculty across the University, support the faculty in undertaking major research initiatives and cutting-edge research, and work with the faculty and the Associate Provost for Computing & Data Sciences to further develop their capacity in these areas.