As our fall semester begins, BIDS continues to grow and develop with new people and programs, and I would like to share with you some important developments.
First, it is with real pleasure -- and a real sense of loss -- that I have to tell you that Kevin Koy is advancing to the next stage of his career in a new position at Stanford; he will be with us until mid-October. As our founding Executive Director, Kevin built BIDS with us, and has been such a thoughtful, creative, capable leader that he has set a high mark. Starting with an empty room in Doe Library, Kevin made BIDS feel like BIDS -- listening, planning, and shaping a community and reaching out to look for whatever was missing in the campus research world where BIDS could help. More personally, he has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and we will all miss him greatly.
We are also glad that this transition is happening just as two excellent leadership members, Marsha Fenner and Jonathan Dugan, have come on board, joining Stacey Dorton to constitute our top-flight operations staff. With Jonathan as Chief Research Officer and Marsha as Communications/Program Manager, we are in good hands for the next phase of BIDS’ growth as the data science landscape on campus blossoms.
Please come and introduce yourself to Marsha and Jonathan, and tell them about your research. They are eager to hear about your work, and help build new connections and opportunities for Berkeley. And, of course, while you’re here, hang out and chat with our wonderful Data Science Fellows, and join in one of our ongoing activities or upcoming events (https://bids.berkeley.edu/events).
As our search for a new BIDS Executive Director begins, we will be reaching out to many of you to ask for help with the search process. We also ask the whole community to help us spread the word, so that we reach a great applicant pool. The job posting will be available at https://bids.berkeley.edu/about/jobs for you to share shortly.
Best wishes to Kevin in his new endeavors and a warm welcome to Marsha, Jonathan, and our new Fellows. And we look forward to seeing the rest of the campus community here at BIDS.
With kind regards, --Saul