Data Science Institute

For those who lived and wrote the story of data science at the University of Virginia, it is about much more than just the history of a school. For many of them, the creation of a school was far from their minds when this story began. 

What would transpire over the years — and ultimately result in the creation of UVA’s 12th school and the first of its kind in the nation — was the product of fortunate timing, extensive outreach and planning, committed champions, and more than a little luck. 

In the narrative that follows, we’ll trace the history of these efforts and the impact they would have. Later, the early days of the Data Science Institute will be chronicled, including the development of the master’s program. 

Finally, you’ll learn about the creation of the School of Data Science, its mission, and the people who brought it to life and embody its purpose, culminating in the opening of the School’s new home in 2024 at the entrance to the Emmet-Ivy corridor in Charlottesville. 

The story begins near the turn of the century, then picks up rapid momentum in the early 2010s as the eyes of the media and Washington begin to focus on big data and efforts that were already underway at UVA gain strength.

What would ultimately emerge would be a School Without Walls, dedicated to interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and the practice of responsible data science for the common good. Run by a handful of staff in the early days of the Data Science Institute, the School of Data Science would become what it is today through the commitment, dedication, ambition, and joy brought to the work by more than 100 faculty and staff, as well as an ever-increasing group of students and alumni. 

For them, the story of data science at UVA is still being written, and it is one that began with just the seeds of an idea. 

Rick Horwitz and company would also enlist another important ally in John Simon, who took over as the University’s provost in September 2011. Momentum was building. 

To gauge interest and bring together people with experience working with big data, plans were made to convene a summit focused on the concept that was developing.   

The first Big Data Summit, a seminal event for data science at UVA, was held on May 9, 2012. The half-day gathering featured short presentations followed by panel discussions around the following themes: data producers; infrastructure issues and challenges; analytics and algorithms; and needs, opportunities, challenges, and next steps. 

The overarching theme, though, was a clarion call to attendees to think creatively and without a preconceived notion of where this idea was headed: “Data, data everywhere without a plan in sight.”

By any measure, the summit was a success.

“It was just absolutely amazing,” said Horwitz. “It was beyond our expectations.”

“We were totally surprised,” said Don Brown of the interest and attendance, saying that they initially expected 60 to 80 faculty participants, not the 170 who attended from 32 departments.  

“Far more than I anticipated,” Teresa Sullivan said. 

The enthusiasm coming out of the first Big Data Summit, however, was marred, at least temporarily, by the forced resignation of Sullivan in June. 

“It was devastating,” said Horwitz. After widespread protests, though, Sullivan was reinstated, and data science had its champion back in the president’s office. 

In May 2013, a second Big Data Summit was held, with opening remarks from Brown, Sullivan, and Horwitz. The topics for this gathering showed the vast potential of data science to touch on a diverse range of disciplines and policies. Sessions focused on humanities, social sciences, and the arts; physical sciences and engineering; and biosciences and medicine. 

There was no denying by the summer of 2013 that the time for big data at UVA had arrived; the next step was turning this vision into something concrete.  

Sullivan asked Horwitz to present and promote the emerging concept around data science and a UVA institute at an early August retreat of UVA’s Board of Visitors. Their response was overwhelmingly positive, and they encouraged the group to move forward quickly with their plans.

Attention then turned to fundraising.

Jaffray Woodriff’s passion for data began long before he ran a hedge fund. Like many, he was a baseball fan as a child, but unlike some, he was particularly enamored by the work of legendary, and pioneering, writer and statistician Bill James. 

“I read as much as I could find of his writings, usually two or three times,” Woodriff said. “He was absolutely brilliant with data science and baseball statistics, yet even though he was publishing all of his work, he wasn’t even recognized as someone that knew anything at all about baseball.”

It wasn’t until decades later that Major League Baseball teams widely embraced the statistical tools James was championing in the 1970s. “This sort of highlights how slowly humanity adjusts to great ideas,” Woodriff said. 

Woodriff studied finance at UVA, graduating in 1991. Even before enrolling he’d developed an interest in trading stocks and resolved that he would focus his studies on the goal of becoming a hedge fund manager. He attributes his success in trading stocks to his use of machine learning. 

“Like Bill James was very early to apply data science to baseball statistics, I was very early to apply data science to trading stocks,” Woodriff said. 

He would go on to found the Charlottesville-based firm Quantitative Investment Management in 2003, where he would continue to enjoy incredible success through his systematic use of machine learning in trading markets.

Another passion of Woodriff’s is squash, and he wanted UVA to field a team. But, Teresa Sullivan recalls, as with many aspects of higher education, there were resource limitations. 

“I sat down with Jaffray and basically said, ‘Look, if this is what you want, you’re pretty much going to have to endow it because we’re just not going to have the resources in athletics to stretch it to another team,’” Sullivan says she told Woodriff.

Woodriff would end up supporting the establishment of men’s and women’s varsity squash teams and construction of the McArthur Squash Center.

“It’s certainly a world-class squash facility,” Woodriff said. “I’m very proud of that.”

“I think he was pleased not only that we were we able to do something new, but that we were able to do it on time, on budget, in a responsible way,” Sullivan said. 

Woodriff’s support of new ventures at UVA was only just beginning. For years he had dreamed of a data science-focused school at the University.

“I had always wanted UVA to be the leader in data science,” he said. “And I couldn’t really figure out a good way to make that happen.”

An invitation to a dinner hosted by Sullivan would provide the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

Teresa Sullivan organized a dinner with potential donors, including Jaffray Woodriff, who asked Rick Horwitz about the plans to establish a Data Science Institute at UVA. Woodriff liked what he heard about the institute but had one concern: Who would run it?

“I’m worried that they’re going to put someone in charge who is really academically focused who doesn’t also have applied success in data science,” Woodriff said. In fact, he had someone in mind: Don Brown. 

Woodriff had only met Brown briefly at a conference 12 years earlier but was immediately impressed and viewed him as possessing both the academic credentials and real-world experience — Brown had owned a successful data science consulting firm in addition to his role as a UVA faculty member — to make the institute a success. 

As Woodriff sat at dinner, both excited about the prospect of his dream of a data science institute becoming a reality and concerned about who would be at the helm, he was finally informed that Brown, his ideal candidate, would be in charge. 

“I think I stood up and punched the air with my fist in celebration that it was going to be exactly the person I thought was best,” Woodriff recalled years later, a moment Sullivan vividly remembered as well.

“Don was exactly the kind of person he had seen as the leader for this effort,” she said. 

Woodriff would ultimately donate $10 million to support the institute — a gift that would prove to be just the beginning of his support of data science at UVA. 

“With his first gift, it became legitimate,” Horwitz said of the impact of Woodriff’s donation. “We had money to start doing things.”

Other external supporters would also emerge. Brown recalls that another UVA alum, Scott Stephenson of Verisk Analytics, wrote to the School of Engineering promoting the idea of a program centered around big data and industry. While the Engineering School did not act on it, Brown caught wind of the letter and did follow up. 

"I said, 'Scott, we want to do what you're talking about,'" Brown said. "It was like the melding of minds, we came together," Brown said. Stephenson would provide substantial support over the years and would go on to chair the advisory board for the School of Data Science. 

The Data Science Institute was ready to begin its work.