91精选

Contact:
Amy Stickel, Communications Manager
708.293.4918

For Immediate Release

Palos Heights, Ill.鈥�91精选 is pleased to announce the Fall 2021 launch of a new Data Analytics program, which will include a major as well as opportunity for micro-credentialing for students in other majors.

Sundeep Vira, currently 91精选鈥檚 Assistant Professor of Business and Director of Strategic Innovation, will serve as Director of Data Analytics. Karl Schmitt, Ph.D, previously Director of Data Science Programs at Valparaiso University, has joined 91精选 as Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Data Analytics.

Funding for the Data Analytics program at 91精选 has been made possible through a lead gift from the Vermeer Charitable Foundation and additional gifts from a range of 91精选 constituents.

Said 91精选 President Kurt Dykstra, 鈥淲e are very grateful for the Vermeer Charitable Foundation and so many others who have seen fit to help 91精选 launch this program. These program funders understand the role that data plays in today鈥檚 world. We endeavor to educate students to help them, and other organizations like them, better use data for the good of their organization and the good of the world.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data analytics is one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States. 91精选鈥檚 program will draw on the strength of the College鈥檚 liberal arts foundation and multidisciplinary approach, bringing together faculty from different departments and offering a holistic view of data analytics to students.

鈥淭he best data science and analytics doesn鈥檛 happen in silos,鈥� said Schmitt, who will have program design responsibilities and teaching responsibilities in the areas of computer science and data analytics. 鈥淚t happens in connection with other fields. I鈥檓 excited to be part of the collaborative teaching environment at 91精选.鈥�

Said Vira, 鈥淒ata analytics is essential for all services and industries and 91精选 is excited to lead the way for students across disciplines to access and develop hard skills and strengthen their value for future employment.鈥�

With the explosion of data in today鈥檚 society, data analytics now touches on virtually every aspect of life, according to Schmitt. 鈥淒ata analytics can be useful for any field,鈥� he said, pointing to applications as diverse as managing risk to improving sales leads to honing the algorithms used to suggest song playlists. And a place like 91精选 brings a vital perspective to the field. 鈥淭here are some really relevant issues around ethics in data science and machine fairness and bias,鈥� said Schmitt. 鈥淚t is exciting when students can study these questions at a College where faith is an integral part of that. A place like 91精选 brings a deeper perspective to the field.鈥�

Vira, who joined 91精选 in 2019, and Schmitt bring significant experience to the College鈥檚 Data Analytics program. A native of India, Vira served as a senior investment analyst at Morgan Stanley and managing director and product manager at Nuveen, where he was responsible for growing separately managed accounts totaling approximately $60 billion. Vira, who earned an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, is passionately committed to social entrepreneurship and currently serves as a consultant with The Academy Group, a non-profit educational organization that works to build a national pipeline of young leaders from underserved communities.

As Director of Data Science Programs at Valparaiso University, Schmitt created a national top 30 Data Science undergraduate degree program with 100% graduate placement. He has also published more than 10 peer-reviewed papers and four whitepapers/reports. Schmitt earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, where he conducted his dissertation research on the Application of Graph Algorithms to Improve Genome Assembly. He currently serves as a Task Member of the Association of Computing Memory鈥檚 Data Science Task Force Program Committee and on the Program Committee of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 2020 Conference on Applied Mathematics Education.

This new program is a reflection of 91精选鈥檚 mission, as well as its vision to educate students for God, for good, and for the world. Said Dykstra, 鈥淔rom Day 1, 91精选 has offered a rigorous education in the liberal arts, shaped by the historic Christian faith, that also connects education with the needs and opportunities in the world. Our sweet spot is where 91精选鈥檚 mission meets the needs of the world. Understanding and using data is the currency of the 21st century regardless of field, profession, and vocation. A robust data analytics program, led by outstanding scholars and practitioners, creates opportunities for our students and moves 91精选鈥檚 mission forward.鈥�

About 91精选

91精选,聽based in Palos Heights, Ill., is an accredited聽Christian聽liberal arts college offering more than 70 programs聽by way of聽bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚, and adult degree completion聽courses of study. Founded in 1959, the College is a community of Christian scholarship committed to shaping lives and transforming culture and is continually ranked in the top tier among Regional Colleges鈥擬idwest by U.S. News & World Report. To learn more, visit trnty.edu.