420 Maynard St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327

www.michigandaily.com

LAURA SCHINAGLE

Editor in Chief

734-418-4115 ext. 1251

schlaura@michigandaily.com

MADISEN POWELL

Business Manager

734-418-4115 ext. 1241

madisenm@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL STAFF

Derek Wolfe 
 Managing Editor 

dewolfe@michigandaily.com

Alyssa Brandon Managing News Editor 

alyabd@michigandaily.com 

SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Lea Giotta, 
Carly Noah and Colleen Harrison

Melissa Scholke Editorial Page Editor 

opinioneditors@michigandaily.com

SENIOR EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR:

Mary Kate Winn

Zach Shaw Managing Sports Editor

sportseditors@michigandaily.com

SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR: 

Chloe Aubuchon

Christian Kennedy Managing Arts Editor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

cmkee@michigandaily.com

SENIOR ARTS EDITOR: Caroline Filips 

Amanda Allen 
and Zach Moore Managing Photo Editors 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

photo@michigandaily.com

Francesca Kielb Managing Design Editor 
 
 
 

design@michigandaily.com

Emily Campbell Managing Copy Editor

copydesk@michigandaily.com

Nick Cruz Online Editor

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Newsroom Office hours:

Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.

 
 734-763-2459 opt.3

News Tips news@michigandaily.com

Corrections 
 corrections@michigandaily.com

Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com 

or visit michigandaily.com/letters

Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com
Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com

Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com
Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com
Magazine statement@michigandaily.com 
 

Advertising Phone: 734-418-4115 
Department dailydisplay@gmail.com

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is 
published every Thursday during the 
spring and summer terms by students 
at the University of Michigan. One copy 
is available free of charge to all readers. 
Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall 
term, starting in September, via U.S. mail 
are $110. Winter term (January through 
April) is $115, yearlong (September 
through April) is $195. University affiliates 
are subject to a reduced subscription rate. 
On-campus subscriptions for fall term 
are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 
The Michigan Daily is a member of The 
Associated Press and The Associated 
Collegiate Press. 

2

Thursday, May 28, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS

New data science 
major to launch 
in fall semester 

Faculty members 

estimate 150 

students will declare 

the major by 2019

By SAM COREY

For the Daily

The 
University 
estab-

lished a new data science 
major, which will be sub-
sumed under LSA’s Statis-
tics Department and the 
College 
of 
Engineering’s 

Division of Computer Sci-
ence and Engineering. The 
new major will be available 
in Fall 2015 to both LSA and 
Engineering students.

According 
to 
Atul 

Prakash, professor of elec-
trical engineering and com-
puter science, working to 
craft a data science major 
has been a joint effort for 
several years.

“(The) 
Department 
of 

Statistics 
and 
Computer 

Science 
and 
Engineering 

(CSE) Division have been 
collaborating for close to a 
decade on curriculum inno-
vation and both programs 
observed that there is going 
to be a need for majors that 
have strong foundations in 
both computing and statis-
tics to help drive data-driv-
en knowledge discovery in a 
wide range of fields includ-
ing medical sciences and 
healthcare, transportation, 
robotics, insurance, social 
networks, natural scienc-
es and other engineering 
fields,” Prakash said in an 
e-mail interview.

The new program will 

include theory and prac-
tice from disciplines such 
as statistics, computer sci-
ence, math and information 
science.

Vijay Nair, professor of 

statistics as well as indus-
trial and operations engi-
neering, said in an e-mail 
interview that the cross-
discipline focus is neces-
sary to adequately prepare 
students for the “big data 
phenomenon” 
that 
will 

drive the work environ-
ment.

“Massive amounts of data 

are now collected routine-
ly in all areas: science and 
technology, business, medi-
cine and daily applications 
(Facebook, Twitter, smart 
phones, World Wide Web, 
etc.). We are seeing a huge 
demand for data scientists, 
people who have the skills 
to work with massive data-
bases — manage, analyze 
and transform data into 
useful information quickly 
in order to make critical 
decisions.”

Nair said data science 

is becoming more vital in 
the corporate and medical 
world.

“Most companies are rely-

ing more and more on data 
for their business, and even 
hospitals, governments and 
research institutions will 
need people with skills in 
data science,” he said. “To 
name a few: Google, Micro-
soft, Facebook, LinkedIn; 
Amazon, IBM, SAS; Banks 
and Financial Institutions 
such as Citibank, Bank of 
America, Capital One, and 
so on. A recent report esti-
mated that, by 2018, the 
demand for Data Scientists 
will be close to 500,000 and 
there will be a shortfall of 
about 150,000 people with 
the right skills.”

According to Nair, data 

science 
faculty 
members 

have 
estimated 
that 
by 

2019, 150 students will have 
declared the major. 

@MICHIGANDAILY

SAN PHAM/Daily

Detroit resident Jamisha Kearney remembers the Black women and girls 
who have lost their lives to police brutality and state violence at the #Say-
HerName Silent Protest: National Day of Action for Black Women and Girls 
in front of the Washtenaw County Circuit Court on Thursday.

PROTEST FOR SOCIAL J USTICE

