April 28, 2015
McLean, Va —Booz Allen Hamilton today announced that it has hired Dr. Kirk Borne to serve as a Principal Data Scientist within the firm’s Strategic Innovation Group (SIG) starting on May 18, 2015. In his new role, Borne will be responsible for advancing data science techniques and delivering cutting-edge capabilities to Booz Allen’s clients across disciplines. Borne will lead mentorship programs as well as educational training programs for Booz Allen’s data science team, a group of more than 500 elite data scientists. His industry reputation and tenure, as well as cross-discipline expertise will help to drive awareness of Booz Allen’s data science capabilities across the firm and with external audiences.
“To welcome a data scientist and industry influencer like Kirk into Booz Allen is very exciting,” said Booz Allen vice president, Angela Zutavern. “We pride ourselves on building a team of data scientists that are not only technically talented, but also curious, tenacious, and capable of solving the previously unsolvable. Having Kirk here to shape and mentor this team will only help us further our mission of developing the industry’s best and brightest data scientists.”
Borne comes to Booz Allen from George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, where he served as a tenured professor of astrophysics and computational science though he focused primarily on data science education and research. Throughout his twelve years at GMU, Borne’s work ranged from data mining and data science algorithms to data analytics applications across industries; pedagogies for using big data in a classroom; and applying data and analytics to the learning process to aid student learning, increase retention and predict performance challenges. Borne is also a pioneer in the field of Astroinformatics, i.e., data science for astronomy research and education.
Under Borne’s direction, GMU developed the United States’ first Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Data Science. He also served as a strategic advisor for the University of Maryland University College new Master of Science in Data Analytics program. He’ll be using these combined experiences to develop course criteria, curriculum, and the necessary educational materials to shape future training programs within Booz Allen.
Outside of his academic experience, Borne is a sought-after strategic advisor for federal and commercial companies and a regular speaker and panelist at industry events. He serves on the board of a number of different for-profit and non-profit organizations, including Soft10 Inc., SYNTASA™, ARIES Scientific, Cobalt Solutions for Innovative Data Science Services, etc. He is also an executive committee member of the Astroinformatics and Astrostatistics International Organization which aims to promote the research and discipline of data science in astronomy worldwide. He is a frequent contributor to social media where he promotes data literacy and the disciplines of data science and big data analytics.
“From my time at NASA to my career at GMU, I have had the opportunity to conduct primary research and push boundaries on topics, trends and conversations that further the field of data science and analytics,” said Borne. “By joining the Booz Allen data science team, I will have the opportunity to combine my love of teaching with my passion for exploration and research. I’m tremendously excited for this opportunity and am proud to join this stand-out team.”
Borne will deliver a keynote presentation on April 28, 2015 at the Big Data Innovation Summit in San Jose, CA where he’ll formally announce his Booz Allen appointment. For more, follow @BoozAllen and @KirkDBorne.
BAHPR-CO
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