CDS Associate Provost Azer Bestavros Named ADSA Advisory Board Member
Following his chairmanship of the the highly successful Academic Data Science Alliance (ADSA) 2023 Data Science Leadership Summit held last year at Boston University's Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS), CDS Associate Provost Azer Bestavros has been named as the newest member of the prestigious ADSA Advisory Board.
In this new role, Bestavros will provide guidance on ADSA’s strategy and help implement its mission to integrate data science and related technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), into university research, education, and training across various disciplines. The Board also assists in empowering all data scientists to openly engage with the ethical implications of their work, a value CDS emphasizes with students from the moment they arrive at BU.
“I am honored to join the distinguished group of data science practitioners, educators, and thought leaders on the ADSA Board. They share my passion for data science and interest in defining AI best practices," said Bestavros. “I look forward to connecting with these colleagues and am excited to share insights into the organizational structures for data science in the academy that have worked so well for us at BU.”
Jay Aikat (UNC Chapel Hill) and Provost Pamela Scott-Johnson (Spelman College) will join the ADSA Board with Bestavros. They replace outgoing members Nairanjana (Jan) Dasgupta (Washington State University) and Talitha Washington (Atlanta University Consortium, Data Science Initiative).
"I am thrilled and honored to welcome Azer Bestavros to the ADSA Board. I was connected to Azer years ago through mutual colleagues who spoke very highly of his efforts to establish CDS at BU,” said Micaela S. Parker, founder and executive director of ADSA. “Since we met, I have admired and appreciated his work to make data science something everyone across campus can benefit from.”
She noted that the 2023 Data Science Leadership Summit highlighted the exciting things happening at CDS, which matriculated its first class in 2022 and recently launched an online Master’s in Data Science program.
“Azer genuinely listens to the campus community in his decision-making,” said Parker. “His attention to the voices of students, staff, and faculty has made CDS the welcoming and thriving place it is today. It was one of the reasons we chose CDS as the location for our Data Science Leadership Summit in 2023, and it's why we are so fortunate he will be joining the ADSA Board.”
Additional Board duties include overseeing ADSA’s use of resources, reviewing and approving the annual budget, supporting ADSA fundraising, and acting as ADSA ambassadors.
“I look forward to working with Azer to advance our like-minded ethos of ‘data science for everyone’ and grow ADSA into a sustainable organization in service of academia across the nation and internationally,” said Parker.
Bestavros is BU’s inaugural associate provost for CDS and the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in the College of Arts & Sciences. He previously served as founding director of the Hariri Institute for Computing, which secured over $100 million in external research funding of incubated projects during his tenure. A BU faculty member since 1991, Bestavros chaired the BU Computer Science Department from 2000 to 2007. He earned his PhD in computer science at Harvard University.
By Toni Fitzgerald, Maureen McCarthy, Editor/Contributor