Brian Macdonald is currently a senior lecturer and research scientist in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Yale University, where he focuses on data science education, sports analytics, and environmental data science. He was previously Special Faculty in Sports Analytics in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University, the Director of Sports Analytics at ESPN, Director of Hockey Analytics with the Florida Panthers Hockey Club, an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at West Point, and an Adjunct Professor at University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College, Easton, PA, and a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

What do you do with data science?

Much of the work I have done in the past, both in academia and industry, has been in sports analytics. I plan to continue this work with students and we will focus on conducting sports analytics research, consulting with Yale sports teams, collaborating with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and creating sports analytics resources that can be used for data science education. Along with 5 other universities, we are part of an NSF grant focusing on using sports analytics for the purposes of data science education, focusing on underrepresented populations. This grant will provide summer support and travel funds for faculty and graduate students to create and disseminate content. In addition to sports analytics, I have started collaborating with members of the School of the Environment on environmental data science projects involving satellite data.