Seminar – Data Science: What is It Not?

Professor Xiao-Li Meng, Harvard University

What is data science (DS)? Some declare DS=CS (Computer Science), some consider DS=S (Statistics), and yet others think DS=BS (not Bayesian Statistics!). The truth is that DS is so broad that it is easier to understand it through its complement. From that angle, DS is not just about deep learning, or prediction, or data analysis. It is not a STEM discipline. It is not even a single discipline. This talk will explain Xiao-Li’s experiences as the founding editor in chief of Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR), to provide evidence for these assertions based on articles in HDSR, which address questions ranging from “Are we witnessing an AI revolution?” to “Who wrote In My Life?”.

Speaker bio

Xiao-Li Meng, Whipple V. N. Jones Professor of Statistics at Harvard University, and Founding Editor in Chief of Harvard Data Science Review. He was the President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (2018-2019), Dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (2012-2018), and Chair for the Department of Statistics at Harvard (2004-2012).

Professor Meng received his BS in mathematics from Fudan University in 1982 and his PhD in statistics from Harvard in 1990. He was on the faculty of the University of Chicago from 1991 to 2001 before returning to Harvard as Professor of Statistics.