The Data Science program, initiated by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, was approved by the WVU Board of Governors in Academic Year 2020-21.
History of the WVU Department of Data Science
Development of the Bachelor of Science degree in Data Science and the undergraduate Data Science Minor was led by Dr. Snehalata Huzurbazar with input from the (late) Dr. Jim Harner, Dr. Brad Price, Dr. Duncan Lorimer and Dr. Marjorie Darrah, among others. Concurrently, the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences was formed and Huzurbazar became the first Professor of Data Science and the Associate Director of the Data Sciences unit within the new School. The next two faculty members hired were Dr. Srinjoy Das, Assistant Professor who started in Fall 2021, and Dr. Vito D'Orazio, an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in Political Science and Data Science. Dr D’Orazio started his appointment in Fall 2022. These 'founding faculty' continue to be critical in the teaching and planning of the future of the program as well as shaping its research direction.
The Data Science undergraduate program's first official freshmen class arrived in Fall 2022. The handful of students who had filtered into the major during the prior year, in 2021-22, initiated and organized a Data Science Club in Fall 2022. With Mr. Caleb Hoffman as the President, official activities of the club started in October 2022.