The University of Oregon's new School of Computer and Data Sciences opened in fall 2023. The school combines the university’s established and growing strength in computer science with its five-year investment in data science. The new school, housed within the College of Arts and Sciences, offers courses to all UO students and is a home to research and experiential education activities.
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SCDS Sends 150 Graduates into the Future
To the 150 graduates of the School of Computer and Data Sciences Class of 2024, we celebrate your many accomplishments in reaching this milestone. Whether you choose to follow a career path in industry, pursue research opportunities, or begin working toward your next degree, may the spirit of discovery inspire all of your next pursuits. Off you go, Ducks!
Battling to Learn
Saghar Salehi
Computer Science Major
We were girls, we were doing science, we were building robots.” College of Arts and Sciences computer science student Saghar Salehi has vivid memories of the work she and her fellow “dreamers” were pursuing at school in Afghanistan. “We were all about proving that the world of engineering and computer science was not the exclusive domain of boys.”
Computer Science Interdisciplinary Specializations
We are home to state-of-the-art research in natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. We offer students and faculty a close-knit community in which to learn, discover, and innovate in a shared quest for solutions to a spectrum of challenging problems that stretch across campus:
Data Science Undergraduate Program Domains
Data science undergraduate students can choose from a variety of domain areas from across the university. Domain specialization provides students with the opportunity to apply core data science knowledge and skills to an area of interest, including:
2024 Grad Spotlights
Fedi Aniefua
Mathematics and Computer Science Major
Fedi Aniefua will be heading to Seattle soon after his Spring 2024 graduation—he just landed a job as a software developer for Amazon. But before leaving Eugene, this MaCS major (and anime aficionado) would like to give credit to those who helped take him the distance.
Kyle Humbert
Data Science & Accounting Dual Major, Accounting Analytics Domain
When Kyle Humbert began his college career, he was studying accounting but was eager to integrate his programming skills. UO’s data science program, with an emphasis in accounting, was a perfect fit. For Kyle, data science opens doors for dynamic career possibilities.
Ducks Take Flight
Liz Olson '17
Computer Science Major
Since graduating in Computer Science from UO in 2017, Liz Olson has held a steady focus on the study of robotics. More specifically, she’s been researching perception in robotics or, how robots learn from sensory data—how they perceive, comprehend and reason.
Now, having almost completed her PhD at the University of Michigan, Olson has set her sights on academia and industry to continue her research.
Lindsey Uribe '23
Data Science Major, Biology Domain, Mathematics Minor
Lindsey Uribe was interested in data science long before she knew it was a viable career option. She had always found working with numbers to be satisfying. But she also had an interest in biology. When she began looking for an academic program that might combine the two, she found a match with UO’s Data Science program.
Lindsey graduated in 2023 with a data science degree and a minor in mathematics. She then secured a full-time position as a data scientist with Dexcom, the company where she had interned.
Impactful Faculty Research
Rori Rohlfs
Associate Professor of Data Science
Rori Rohlfs, the first tenure-track faculty member in the new Department of Data Science, has built her reputation at the intersection of biology and computer science. She comes to UO with deep data science experience and a passion for its application to social justice.
"There's no avoiding social context when we’re doing science,” she says. "It’s clear in the questions we ask and our approaches to those questions, who we include on our scientific teams, what assumptions we make, and what assumptions we examine. How data science informs social justice is integral to this discussion.”
Brittany Erickson
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Assistant Professor Brittany Erickson, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, had her first encounter with an earthquake in 1989. She was an 8-year-old, playing outside when Loma Prieta violently shook California’s Central Coast at a magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of IX. The event was terrifying and memorable.
Fast forward to 2024 and Erickson now holds a joint position in the UO Computer Science and Earth Sciences departments, using computational mathematics and machine learning to address outstanding questions in earthquake science.
Research & News Stories
