The University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) seeks an internationally recognized leader in data sciences with the intellectual leadership, academic entrepreneurship experience, and dedication to serve as the Director of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI). HDSI seeks a Director to propel HDSI into the next phase of its growth, while leveraging the tremendous intellectual, infrastructural, and financial resources of the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing into enabling center-scale research projects with potential for high impact.
HDSI was founded in 2018 with the philanthropic support of Taner Halıcıoğlu, a UC San Diego computer science and engineering alumnus ('96) and an early Facebook engineer, which led to the institute being named in his honor. Since that time, HDSI has been a world leader in establishing the scientific foundations of the field of data science, developing new methods and infrastructure, and training students and partners to use data science to address pressing global problems. HDSI serves as a hub for data science and AI advances across the entirety of UC San Diego academics and with the national and international research community to accelerate discovery in every field of inquiry and drive real-world impact.
HDSI’s new Director will be a strategic, transformative leader with a compelling vision for the future of areas of data sciences, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, cyberinfrastructure, and the applications and services that enable researchers to make full use of leading-edge, world-class resources to advance human knowledge, health, and well-being. The successful candidate will be someone who combines this breadth of vision with effective leadership and management as demonstrated by a solid prior track record. To be successful, the Director will address the following opportunities and challenges, outlined further below:
- Create a vision for HDSI that charts the path ahead toward the future of data science at UC San Diego.
- Recruit, retain, and develop a world-class faculty and staff.
- Promote and champion interdisciplinary partnerships across HDSI and throughout UC San Diego.
- Build and scale academic programs in data science.
- Lead and develop external partnerships to expand HDSI’s impact and generate philanthropic support.
ABOUT HDSI
In 2018, UC San Diego established HDSI with philanthropic support, including a $75 million gift from Alumnus Taner Halıcıoğlu, strengthening the institution’s depth in technology-related domains. Uniquely positioned as the only standalone academic unit on campus, HDSI demonstrated rapid growth in increasing enrollment, faculty, and research and grant portfolios. The interdisciplinary nature of HDSI has allowed faculty and researchers across disciplines to come together to explore new computational methods, mathematical models, and guide societal and ethical impacts of data science. HDSI is also home to the NSF-funded AI Institute for Learning-Enabled Optimization at Scale (TILOS), a $20 million endeavor that explores AI optimization and advances chip design, networks, and contextual robots. Together, SDSC and HDSI will provide opportunities for new academic programs and research initiatives that both faculty and researchers will be able to draw closely together, meeting the demand to advance data science and AI innovations and educate the workforce for the future.
As an institute, HDSI was built upon three foundational goals: transcending department and divisional boundaries to train talent for the transdisciplinary domain, catalyzing research in data science across campus, and building a data science ecosystem of researchers and practitioners working closely with industry partners. HDSI is a campus hub for Data Science that has emerged as a strong interdisciplinary academic department with students earning degrees in data science programs include BS, MS and PhD in Data Science, as well as joint degree programs including BS in AI, Master of Data Science (online), and Master of Advanced Studies in Data Science and Engineering. In addition, the Institute is readying plans to offer new joint degree programs in Business Analysis as well as MS in Data Science for the Physicians (MD-MS).
ABOUT HALICIOĞLU SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE AND COMPUTING
As the newest of 12 schools at UC San Diego, the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing will position the university to lead innovation and education across artificial intelligence, computing, and data science. The school uniquely combines the strengths of the San Diego Supercomputer
Center (SDSC), a national leader in high-performance and data-intensive computing, and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), a pioneering interdisciplinary institute that advances data science and AI education and research. The school brings together faculty across disciplines to improve the human condition by better understanding how data shapes society and to prepare the next generation of highly skilled workers driving artificial intelligence advancements.
Rajesh K. Gupta serves as the Dean as well as Distinguished Professor of CSE and Data Science at UC San Diego. Professor Gupta’s research is in embedded and cyber-physical systems with a focus on sensor data organization and its use in optimization and analytics.
SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER (SDSC)
UC San Diego has a deep and long history in computing and computational sciences. Established in 1985 by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as one of the nation’s first supercomputer centers, SDSC transformed academic scientific communities by addressing the shortage of advanced computing resources. SDSC continues to provide computing resources to a range of stakeholders and federal agencies, state agencies, and the UC San Diego and UC system, providing researchers with in-house computational and data resources to accelerate scientific discovery. Recently, SDSC has launched an “AI for UC San Diego and Partners” program to advance state-of-the-art AI applications across industry and academia to build on UC San Diego’s global leadership in AI with the goal of operating a high-performance AI infrastructure and providing partners with access to AI experts.
Frank Würthwein is the Director of SDSC. He holds faculty appointments at UC San Diego in the Physics Department and HDSI. His research focuses on globally distributed computing and data systems (e.g., OSG, NRP, OSDF), experimental particle physics, and distributed high-throughput computing.
ROLE OF THE DIRECTOR OF HDSI
Reporting to the Dean of the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, the Director is responsible for the strategic direction and operational management of HDSI, including academic programs. The Director will play a key role in shaping the future of data science research nationally and will contribute to the next wave of scientific innovations in a collaborative and competitive global arena. At the same time, HDSI’s new Director will continue to strengthen its engagement and alignment with UC San Diego’s academic mission and advance the data sciences. The Director will lead an academic department with 53 faculty, 17 staff, and 1600 students with a budget of approximately $12M.
KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE DIRECTOR
To be successful in this role, the Director will address the following key opportunities and challenges, serving as an effective leader, relationship builder, change agent, and representative for all the members of HDSI:
- Create a vision for HDSI that charts the path ahead toward the future of data science at UC San Diego.
HDSI has quickly launched as a hub of data science to the broader campus by bringing together leading scholars and researchers in the field. The organization is in a transitional phase, moving from its founding to a first-of-its-kind academic department and a campus-wide institute. In consultation with the HDSI faculty, the Dean of the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, and campus leadership, the Director will build on the established success of HDSI by developing a vision and establishing priorities for its future that are mutually beneficial to HDSI, the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, UC San Diego, the UC system, and the broader international field of data science. The Director will provide intellectual and administrative leadership by articulating and implementing a vision that builds on HDSI’s research and academic efforts. This will involve evaluating and redesigning operational and administrative structures for HDSI to ensure the organization is primed for success. Leading a unit in start-up mode will require the Director to be comfortable navigating ambiguity while managing conflicting advice to build consensus among key stakeholders that positions HDSI as a connector, innovator, and leader to the campus and beyond.
- Recruit, retain, and develop a world-class faculty and staff.
Central to the mission of HDSI is the excellent faculty and staff who advance the institute toward fulfilling its goals. The Director will serve as the chief attractor of talent, strengthening HDSI’s faculty and staff, while also growing its research base across innovative growth areas in the field. HDSI’s combined departmental budget and endowment funding enable interdisciplinary research groups and operational research staff not typically available in standard departments. Given the interdisciplinary nature of HDSI, the Director will identify, proactively explore, and build research teams and projects that respond to prominent calls and opportunities offered by various related research funding organizations. This will require the Director to oversee HDSI’s staffing and operations, while being strategic and fiscally responsible for the hiring of faculty and staff to advance its pursuits.
The Director will also invest in retention efforts and professional development opportunities for faculty and staff, including supporting junior faculty in tenure and promotion. A critical component of HDSI includes its culture, which the Director must maintain in an inclusive environment that supports the development of a talented and ambitious faculty and staff.
- Promote and champion interdisciplinary partnerships across HDSI and throughout UC San Diego.
HDSI is positioned as a hub that integrates with other units through joint appointments, shared programs, and collaborative research initiatives, which have been foundational to the institute's success as a bridge across campus in data science. The Director will continue supporting these efforts by consulting and collaborating with campus academic leaders in areas of mutual interest and on major new undertakings and investments that will further enhance UC San Diego’s deployment of innovative data science infrastructure, resources, techniques, and services to advance its mission. As a leading spokesperson for data science research infrastructure and collaboration, the Director will engage those on campus, within the UC System, and beyond, in supporting a novel approach to advancing data science research and academic programs. This will require the Director to take on a campus-wide role, not just a departmental one, by focusing on cross-unit influence and coordination.
- Build and scale academic programs in data science.
HDSI offers students the opportunity to earn degrees in data science at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As the demand for data science degrees continues to grow, the Director will ensure HDSI remains proactive and responsive to these needs by building interdisciplinary academic programs. This is a rare opportunity to define new academic programs, research structures, and long-term institutional models that could scale into multiple national institutes for HDSI. The Director will advise on activities that add to the financial strength of HDSI, including devising and operating executive training and certification programs. In turn, these programs will drive undergraduate and graduate enrollment for HDSI. Given UC San Diego’s culture of interdisciplinarity, HDSI will better position the university in fulfilling its research and academic goals.
- Promote, develop, and lead external partnerships to expand the impact of HDSI and generate philanthropic support.
The Director will serve as the leading voice of HDSI in national and international forums, educating and enlightening audiences about the exciting work advancing the field of data science. The Director will engage and partner with public and private organizations, including industry and research labs, providing them with the opportunity to support, define, and fund new research, educational, and community engagement activities consistent with HDSI’s mission. As a spokesperson for HDSI, the Director will lead fundraising efforts and seek to establish connections as a means to create new opportunities for faculty, students, and staff, and increase revenue streams for the unit. To be successful, the Director will partner with the Dean of the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing to ensure alignment between the goals of both units when engaging external partners to support the broader vision of data science at UC San Diego.
The successful applicant will be appointed to a tenured full professorship in HDSI. Upon completion of their tenure as Institute Director, which is for an initial period of three years with the possibility of up to two renewals, the position will revert to that of a professor.
