Q&A with Metis Admissions + Career Support - Read the Recap

Meet OurTeam

We provide outstanding data science training programs to help individuals and businesses gain in-demand skills. Meet the talented people who make this possible.

Jason Moss

President and Founder
Global

Jason, President and Founder of Metis, aspires to improve everyone's data science skill set.

For almost 20 years, Jason has worked in education. From founding a nonprofit organization in New Orleans to working at companies such as McKinsey & Company, Scholastic, Kaplan, and now Metis (a part of Kaplan), he has sought opportunities to build businesses and work with exceptional teams on creating transformative learning experiences and products.He spends most his time at Metis (1) ensuring the quality of the student experience and outcome; (2) developing the roadmap and building the team to grow the business; and (3) engaging with data scientists around the country with whom Metis can collaborate.He has been married for 12 years and has two kids. In his spare time, he enjoys kickboxing, participating in obstacle courses, and blogging about billiards movies and television shows.

Check out content by and/or featuring Jason:

Article: Congrats, You Finished Your Bootcamp! Now What?

Article: The three leagues of data literacy – and how to play to win 

Video: Going Where the Unicorns Roam - Entering the Field (ODSC West 2015)

Interview: Data Science Bootcamp Founders Interview

Debbie Berebichez

Chief Data Scientist
Global

Debbie, Chief Data Scientist at Metis, uses her "physics glasses" to solve challenging real-world problems and promote critical thinking.

Deborah Berebichez is a physicist, data scientist and TV host. She has expertise in scientific research and advanced analysis and she has helped automate decision-making and uncover patterns in large amounts of data. Her passion lies in merging critical thinking skills with practical coding skills. She specializes in drawing connections between the approaches used in data science and the challenges organizations face. Deborah has a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford and completed two postdoctoral fellowships at Columbia University's Applied Math and Physics Department and at NYU's Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences. She is a frequent mentor of young women in STEM. Her work in science education and outreach has been recognized by the Discovery Channel, WSJ, Oprah, Dr. Oz, TED, DLD, WIRED, Ciudad de las Ideas and others.

Check out content by and/or featuring Debbie:

Podcast: Becoming a Data Scientist with Renee Teate

Talk: Keynote Speech at Grace Hopper Celebration 2017

Caryn Pochron

Chief Operating Officer
Global

Caryn enjoys helping students unlock their potential and achieve their goals.

Caryn comes to Metis with over 20 years experience in education, operations, and delivering great student experiences. Caryn began her career in education with Kaplan Test Prep. She held various roles including Regional Director and Executive Director of Classroom Operations where she had the opportunity to help thousands of students get into their top choice colleges and graduate schools. In 2015, Caryn joined Dev Bootcamp where she had the opportunity to help students achieve their dreams to become web developers. She has her business degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Caryn enjoys international travel, experiencing different cuisines, and drinking great wine.

Michael Galvin

Executive Director of Data Science Corporate Training
Global

Michael enjoys using data to create new things and solve previously "unsolvable" problems.

Michael oversees the data science training and curriculum development for all of Metis’s corporate clients, including Wells Fargo, Intel, and Fortune 500 companies across industries. He comes to Metis from General Electric where he worked to establish their data science strategy and capabilities for field services and to build solutions supporting Global operations, risk, engineering, sales, and marketing. He also taught data science and machine learning for General Assembly. Prior to GE, Michael spent several years as a data scientist working on problems in credit modeling at Kabbage and corporate travel and procurement at TRX. Michael holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Master's degree in Computational Science and Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology where he also spent 3 years working on machine learning research problems related to computational biology and bioinformatics. Additionally, Michael spent 12 years in the United States Marine Corps where he held various leadership roles within aviation, logistics, and training units. In his spare time, he enjoys running, traveling, and reading.

Check out content featuring Michael:

Interview: Mike Galvin on How Metis is Demystifying Data Science

Article: How to Break Into the Data Science Industry

Roberto Reif

Executive Director of Data Science
Seattle

Roberto is a scientist with a strong background in data analysis and image/signal processing.

Roberto comes to Metis from Sensoria Inc., where he led the signal processing team. He has worked in applications in the healthcare, internet of things, and business intelligence markets. He received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, and has co-authored several scientific publications, book chapters, and patents. He enjoys hiking and soccer.

Check out content by and/or featuring Roberto:

Talk: Visualization: Simplified

Article: Displaying Images in Tableau (with some help from Python)

Vinny Senguttuvan

Senior Data Scientist
New York City

Vinny, a Metis data science instructor, views data as a facet of perception.

Vinny comes to Metis after leading a team of Data Scientists at High 5 Games. Prior to that he taught Machine Learning at General Assembly and built tools for Animators and Effects Artists at Blue Sky Studios (the company that made Ice Age, Rio and The Peanuts Movie). He has a Masters in Computational Engineering and another in Creative Writing. He enjoys the nexus of mathematics, computer programming, human perception and arts. Over the past three years, Vinny has been knee-deep in large distributed data -- aggregating, building recommendation systems, measuring popularity and predicting Lifetime Value. In that time, he also finished a first draft of his novel. An avid programmer, Vinny has won various programming contests including the Regional ACM Collegiate Programming Contest. He has taught at the University of Miami and has given talks and presentations at various colleges and conferences.

Check out content by and/or featuring Vinny:

Article: The Data Science Pipeline - Analytics Week

Lara Kattan

Senior Data Scientist
Chicago
Lara is constantly awe struck by how math and statistical models can so reasonably approximate the messy real world, and loves to share her passion for the theory. 
Lara comes to Metis from McKinsey, where she worked with financial institutions on risk modeling. Prior to settling into the practical world of consulting, Lara received a master's from the University of Chicago, where she had the privilege of thinking about problems with no real-world implications. There her passion for unstructured thinking and novel problem solving were nurtured and she took the lessons learned with her into conference rooms and PowerPoint decks. The statistical and mathematical elegance of data science are what animate her the most, but she gets her biggest joy from demystifying the rigorous mathematics for all audiences. If forced to snap out of her mathematical reveries, she's probably doing yoga, riding a bike, or drinking too much coffee. 

Jonathan Balaban

Senior Data Scientist
San Francisco

Jonathan Balaban is a consultant, data scientist, and entrepreneur with ten years of private, public, and philanthropic experience.

As a data scientist, he has worked at McKinsey and Booz Allen Hamilton, and he has taught data science at General Assembly. He has led teams to design bespoke data science solutions that have driven revolutionary changes in client operations. Jonathan - sometimes successfully - leverages data science solutions in his personal life: on friends, racing, and training.

Check out content by and/or featuring Jonathan:

Github Repository

Article: Three Questions Business Leaders Should Be Asking About Apple’s New Machine Learning Kit

Talk: Fortune-Telling with Python: An Intro to Time Series Modeling (ODSC East 2017)

Talk: Fortune-Telling with Python: Intro to Facebook Prophet (ChiPy Users Group)

Article: Best Practices for Applying Data Science Techniques in Consulting Engagements

Alice Zhao

Senior Data Scientist
Chicago

Alice, a Metis data science instructor, enjoys making complex things easy to understand.

Alice comes to Metis from Cars.com, where she started as the company's first data scientist, supporting multiple functions from Marketing to Technology. During that time, she also co-founded a data science education startup, Best Fit Analytics Workshop, teaching weekend courses to professionals at 1871 in Chicago. Prior to becoming a data scientist, she worked at Redfin as an analyst and at Accenture as a consultant. She has her M.S. in Analytics and B.S. in Electrical Engineering, both from Northwestern University. She blogs about analytics and pop culture on A Dash of Data. Her blog post, "How Text Messages Change From Dating to Marriage" made it onto the front page of Reddit, gaining over half a million views in the first week. She is passionate about teaching and mentoring, and loves using data to tell fun and compelling stories.

Check out content by and/or featuring Alice:

Podcast: Data Science for Beginners (Learn to Code with Me Podcast)

Talk: Support Vector Machines: A Visual Explanation with Sample Python Code

Article: Geek of the Week (GeekWire)

Joe Eddy

Senior Data Scientist
New York City

Joe loves tackling unusual problems with the tools of data science and has a passion for effectively communicating quantitative ideas.

As both a math enthusiast and a former competitive debater, Joe was drawn to data science by its place at the intersection of statistics, computing, and communication. He has worked on projects ranging from quantifying and comparing story plots to building a Bayesian model of human rights abuse rates that accounts for informational bias. Before transitioning into data science, he worked in various data analytics roles, most recently as an Equity Research associate on Credit Suisse's portfolio strategy team. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Columbia University, and is also a Metis alumnus. He currently coaches NYU's parliamentary debate team, and in his free time he enjoys playing piano, reading, and playing board games.

Check out content by Joe:

GitHub Repository

Article: Safety in Numbers: My 18th Place Solution to Porto Seguro’s Kaggle Competition  

Sophie Searcy

Senior Data Scientist
New York City

Sophie loves extracting representations and understanding from data and pushing data science to be a more positive and inclusive discipline.

Sophie Searcy comes to Metis from Elektra, a wearable startup that is replacing haptics with electricity. At Elektra she was cofounder and CTO, designing everything from the electronics to the framework for analyzing data. Before that she worked in the CoDaS lab at Rutgers where she combined cognitive science and theoretical computer science to build models of how people and machines teach and learn. She holds masters degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Psychology. She is passionate about teaching, both in theory and in practice, and about making sure that data science is primarily a tool that is used to improve people's lives.

Check out content by and/or featuring Sophie:

Article: Deep Learning from Scratch with Python

Article: A Case for Diversity

Article: Why Data Scientists Should Make a Commitment to Diversity

Chad Scherrer

Senior Data Scientist
Seattle

Chad enjoys that data science gives practical approximations to the complex uncertainties of reality.

Chad comes to Metis from a diverse technical background. After earning his mathematics PhD from Indiana University, Chad joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to work on statistical and computational challenges ranging from homeland security to high-performance computing and machine learning research. Following several of his publications at top-tier ML conferences, he turned to probabilistic programming, then still in its infancy. He has used these systems for consulting projects for industrial clients, and has led development and publication of several new ones along the way. In his spare time, Chad enjoys a wide range of music, and practices martial arts, where he has black belts in several styles.

Check out content by and/or featuring Chad:

Article: Bayesian Optimal Pricing

Kerstin Frailey

Senior Data Scientist
Global

Kerstin, a senior data scientist, enjoys merging data science with practicality to drive real world impact.

Kerstin is passionate about bringing data science from the edge of business to the center of it.  She has data science experience in all three sectors: for-profit, non-profit, and government.  As Director of Data Science, she founded the Guidestar data science team and brought machine learning to the largest nonprofit data warehouse.  At Postmates she used her broad data science toolkit to support marketing, growth, finance, and fleet team needs.  As a University of Chicago Data Science for Social Good Fellow she helped uncover early signals for delays in education.  She holds graduate degrees in statistics, mathematical statistics, and mathematical computer science from Cornell University and University of Illinois at Chicago.  As an undergraduate she studied psychology and anthropology at Yale University.  In her free time Kerstin performs improv, writes sketch comedy, and enjoys food.

Adam Wearne

Senior Data Scientist
San Francisco

With a background in physics and quantitative finance, Adam has applied data science and machine learning solutions in a wide variety of research settings ranging from recognizing and clustering behavioral patterns to applying natural language processing techniques to help build superior equity portfolios.  Adam is passionate about teaching and is excited to share his industry experiences with students. 

Check out content by Adam:

Paper: Using Natural Language Processing Techniques for Stock Return Predictions

Paper: Characterization of liposomes and silica nanoparticles using resistive pulse method

Kimberly Fessel

Senior Data Scientist
New York City

Kimberly uses her background in applied math to discover data's what, why, and how.

Kimberly joins Metis from MRM//McCann, a leading digital advertising agency, where she focused on helping clients understand their customers by leveraging unstructured data with modern NLP techniques.  She is passionate about data storytelling and the power of compelling data visualizations to challenge pre-conceived assumptions.  Kimberly's enthusiasm for teaching comes from her days as an academic.  She holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in math biology at the Ohio State University.  In her spare time, Kimberly likes to stay active and particularly enjoys swing dancing, rollerblading, and jogging with her dog.

Check out content by Kim:

Blog

Cliff Clive

Senior Data Scientist
Seattle
Cliff is fascinated by the human component of data science and views every problem as an opportunity to explore the biases and behavior that cause data to not always to be what it seems.
Cliff has worked on user segmentation analysis for Microsoft Office, trained language understanding models for Cortana, forecasted demand at Amazon Fresh, and spent four years as a quantitative strategist in Chicago's hedge fund industry. Prior to that he obtained master's degrees in Statistics and Economics from the University of Chicago. More recently, Cliff has taken an interest in data democratization and specifically in finding viable applications for small businesses. Cliff is also a dancer and DJ of Brazilian Zouk, and spends much of his free time studying electronic music production.

John Tate

Senior Data Scientist
Chicago

John is a data scientist with experience in machine learning, cloud technologies, and business intelligence.

John joins Metis from WithumSmith+Brown, where he was a manager in their data and analytics practice. At Withum, John led engagements developing end to end solutions for clients with applications ranging from data management and cloud infrastructure to predictive analytics and business intelligence. He has taught data science for General Assembly as well as Microsoft training workshops and professional education courses for financial professionals.

Kelly Gola

Senior Data Scientist
San Francisco

Kelly is passionate about breaking complex concepts down to fun, grokable lessons that are accessible to everyone.

Kelly comes to Metis from TaskRabbit where she used machine learning models to derive valuable insights about client usage patterns for marketing communications and to build personalized product features. Prior to Taskrabbit, Kelly conducted clinical research at University of California, San Francisco examining neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia patients and has taught courses in statistics, research methods, and neuroscience. She holds a PhD in developmental psychology from University of California, Santa Cruz and is also a Metis alum. She loves being in the classroom and thrives by helping students develop the technical and research tools that empower their creativity.

Amy Ramnath

Director of Admissions
Global

Amy is dedicated to creating meaningful relationships with students as they navigate through the Admissions process and beyond.

With over eight years in higher education, Amy is passionate about developing an engaging and effective Admissions process, while using data to gain insights and drive decision-making. She is lauded for her ability to work cross-functionally and her focus on customer service. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring New York City and spending time with her two dogs.

Check out content by and/or featuring Amy:

Article: How to Get into the Metis Data Science Bootcamp (CourseReport)

Josh Shaman

Senior Admissions Manager
San Francisco

Josh is a career education professional who is passionate about creating meaningful relationships with students and helping them take the next best step in their education and career.

Josh started his career in education by spending nearly 4 years in South Korea as a teacher. After returning from South Korea, Josh launched an online school teaching ESL to business professionals around the world. He also earned his M.Ed. from the University of Cincinnati. After those undertakings, Josh worked at Hack Reactor as an admissions and program manager. He joined Metis at the beginning of 2017 and has been developing innovative programs which help students prepare to apply and creating sincere relationships with students to help them take their skills to the next level.

Check out content by Josh:

Article: Metis Helps Us Understand the Value of a Data Science Bootcamp Education

Jennifer Raimone

Director of Career and Student Support
Global

Jennifer enjoys creating individualized career plans designed to breakdown the job search process and distinguish you from your competition.

Jennifer comes to Metis with close to 8 years of experience in career development. Her tenure at TheLadders included managing a team of sourcers dedicated to connecting talent with employers. With a double certification in Career Coaching and Resume Writing coupled with a keen sense of the recruitment process, Jennifer is eager to share her experience and knowledge on how to successful gain employment. Jennifer has her BA in English and Language Arts. During her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, and dancing with her husband and new baby boy.

Andrew Savage

Senior Career Advisor and Head of Employer Partnerships
San Francisco

Andrew is passionate about connecting people to their dream job.

Andrew is passionate about helping students see what's possible for themselves, by providing them with personalized career support that helps them achieve their specific goals. A lifelong Bay Area resident, Andrew graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Political Science. Andrew combines his experience as a Career Coach with previous roles where he helped tech companies expand their business and hire employees who best fit their needs. As the Career Advisor in San Francisco, Andrew helps students prepare for the workforce by helping them identify what they really want out of a career, developing a workable plan, and providing support at every step along the way. Outside of work Andrew enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with his pug.

Check out content by and/or featuring Andrew:

Interview: AI & Deep Learning News (AITV Episode)

Article: Navigating the Data Science Job Market – What to Know Before You Apply

Talk: How to Position Yourself in the Data Science Job Market (ODSC)

Ashley Purdy

Career Advisor
Chicago

Ashley is a passionate Career Advisor who enjoys helping job seekers realize their full professional potentials and assisting them with finding their dream careers.

Ashley has 5 years of experience as an employment professional. She started her career as a technical recruiter, and most recently worked at DeVry University as a Career Advisor supporting the technical programs. Working in both a recruiting and advising capacity has given her a strong understanding of the recruitment process and what employers seek in a quality candidate, especially in the technical industry. Ashley is excited to be a founding member of the Chicago Metis team. She can't wait to get started working with students and graduates to assist them with identifying what they want out of a career and helping them find the career they are looking for. Outside of work Ashley enjoys staying active through rec sports and running, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.

Check out content by and/or featuring Ashley:

Talk: Data Science Job Search 101 #ProTips

Podcast: Tech Scene Chicago

Talk: Data Science Job Search 101 #ProTips (ChickTech Act-W Conference)

Marybeth Redmond

Career Advisor
Seattle

Marybeth joins Metis with a rich background in technical recruiting with over 10 years specifically in the Seattle area.

Marybeth has previously served as a Career Coach for Lee Hecht Harrison working with companies, including Microsoft and Verizon, to help their former employees transition into new roles and navigate the job search process. Marybeth has worked to place job seekers in companies such as Amazon, Expedia, and other local businesses. For fun, she enjoys acting, playing her new Martin guitar and performing Improv Comedy on Bainbridge Island where she lives.

Leah Nicolai

Director of Program Operations
Global

Leah is passionate about connecting to people and helping them achieve their educational goals.

Leah started her career first managing a children's enrichment center and then in the finance world, before joining Kaplan Test Prep in 2012 and transitioning full-time to Metis in 2014. After overseeing the NY location as Program Manager and additionally Metis' other locations and Program Managers, she moved into her Director role in March of 2017. She also acts as Designated School Official for our M-1 visa assistance and School Director for NY BPSS. Leah graduated with a degree in Art History and Spanish and in her spare time she enjoys any craft-based project, traveling, hiking and Jeopardy.

Jesel Roosevelt

Program Manager
New York City

Jesel enjoys using every possible resource to help others recognize their talents and improve their outcome for success.

Prior to joining Metis, Jesel previously worked in non profit and healthcare settings cultivating relationships and increasing engagement to shape culture and drive business goals. Jesel has a Master's degree in Industrial & Organizational Psychology and her days off will usually include looking for a sunny spot to relax and meditate.

Caroline Csernus

Program Manager
Chicago

Caroline is passionate about forming meaningful relationships with students and helping them reach their greatest potential.

Caroline comes to Metis with four years of experience providing student support and serving as a Designated School Official to international students. She thrives on providing excellent customer service and creating a comfortable learning environment. Caroline graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from Illinois State University and a Master of Arts in Intercultural Communication from The University of Manchester. She enjoys traveling, animals, and learning about different cultures.

Stephany Bittar

Program Manager
San Francisco

Stephany is a numbers girl with a passion for statistics, social entrepreneurship, and education.

Stephany is an action oriented behavioral economist with a passion for education. She comes to Metis from Florida State, where she earned her degree in Economics with concentrations in Psychology and Math. Her college experience included a run as the youngest Student Body President at a Florida State campus, and she's excited to use her energy and experiences to shape the student experience. Out of the office, you can count on Stephany for a trip to the local bookstore, music venue, or brunch.

Jane Durand

Executive Director of Marketing
Global

Jane is a data-driven marketer committed to growing the Metis student and graduate community.

Jane's passion lies in working with talented teams to implement measurable, integrated marketing plans that make a positive impact on businesses she believes in. She comes to Metis from the digital marketing agency Blue Fountain Media, where she worked as a Marketing Director to create and execute on strategies that addressed clients' brand and business goals. Prior to that she worked as a Senior Marketing Project Manager at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, an online school that certifies health coaches. This was her first exposure to the power of non-traditional education, and she saw its life-changing capacity first-hand. Jane is a graduate of Wake Forest University down south, but is a New Yorker who loves staying active and finding ways to get her hands dirty.

Nathan Vermeiren

National Data Science Evangelist & Events Manager
Global

Nathan is passionate about non-traditional education, taking tools learned in the classroom and implementing them in real world experiences.

Nathan is a community builder who previously built bilingual English/Spanish communities for over five years at a language events start-up company in both Buenos Aires and Madrid. Nathan started with Metis helping build their technology community in Chicago, where he lives. He is now building on Metis' already established nationwide network, engaging with the technology community one event at a time. Nathan is a Louisiana State University graduate whose passion is traveling the world.

Shaunna Randolph

Marketing Manager (B2B)
Global

Shaunna is a creative and strategic marketer who skillfully translates technical jargon into approachable concepts and compelling stories that inspire people to act. 

Shaunna comes to Metis with extensive B2B marketing experience.  She is skilled at collaborating with cross-functional groups to develop and manage strong and impactful marketing campaigns for both small businesses and Fortune 500 brands. Her experience includes working for companies like Deloitte, Google, Citi and First Data, all helping them convince clients to embrace a new, groundbreaking technology. When she's not finding ways to inspire and educate audiences about emerging technology, you can find Shaunna volunteering for Black Girls Code and Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, or running in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Alex Bannon

Lead Engineer
Global

Alex is a team-oriented software engineer who enjoys tackling new and interesting problems head-on.

Alex has multiple years of experience building large-scale web and mobile applications for startups in the DC and NY regions. Prior to joining Metis, Alex led on numerous projects at Blackbook and Mobile Posse, creating and maintaining websites that reached tens of millions a day. Most recently, Alex was a consultant in the NYC area helping small-scale organizations establish proper architecture and product management for long-term growth. Outside of work, he enjoys finding the best food spots, running, swimming, and old-school video games.

Damien Martin

Senior Data Scientist
Global

Damien looks to data to build simplified models of the world, to help us understand and reason about it.

Damien has experience bringing esoteric subjects down to Earth. After completing a PhD in cosmology, he spent his time developing project-based learning in physics, math and computer science at small liberal arts colleges. He loves developing projects that are relevant and interesting, while still highlighting the important concepts. After leaving the classroom, Damien worked as a curriculum designer and data scientist for a small San Francisco recruiting startup for people looking for coding jobs. When he's not working on lectures, Damien can be found studying Wing Tsun, playing Go, or on a photo hike.

Doug Noll

Enterprise Sales Director
Global

Doug is a passionate business development professional committed to growing the Metis brand within corporate markets and beyond.

Doug’s true calling is building trusted and impactful business relationships, all while forging life-long partnerships. He comes to Metis after spending over 8 years in the corporate training and learning and development industries with leading training organizations such as Inspired eLearning and MicroTek, a leading corporate training outsourcer. While with MicroTek, Doug managed key strategic enterprise clients, and brought on impactful new business relationships as an award-winning producer and sales manager. He has a passion for the corporate training industry, and is an active member of many leading professional training organizations; including, The Association for Talent Development and TrainingIdustry.com. While at Inspired eLearning as a Business Development Manager, he discovered the impact and added value eLearning could bring to the student learner. Doug is a graduate of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, and has lived in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for over 18 years. He has been married for 9 years, and has two kids. In his spare time, he enjoys following college football and his Penn State Nittany Lions. He also enjoys family road trips, and visiting Virginia Beach each year.

Kenny Lehr

Full Stack Software Engineer
Global

Kenny is both an eager learner and excited developer that loves to use his skills to transform complex challenges through code.

Kenny is a Cooper Union graduate with over 3 years of mechanical engineering experience in the construction industry. As an engineer, he has collaborated with a variety of teams throughout the NYC area to bring simple solutions to difficult engineering problems. As a developer he strives to think creatively about the projects he works on, and to continuously learn from the ideas he encounters. As a Flatiron School alum, Kenny is especially interested in working with Metis to shape the data science industry. In his free time, Kenny combines his long time love for video and board games with his equal passion for craft beer. 

Sergey Fogelson

Instructor

Sergey Fogelson is the Vice President of Analytics and Measurement Sciences at Viacom.

Sergey began his career as an academic at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he researched the neural bases of visual category learning and obtained his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. After leaving academia, Sergey got into the rapidly growing startup scene in the NYC metro area, where he has worked as a data scientist in alternative energy analytics, digital advertising, cybersecurity, finance, and media. He is heavily involved in the NYC-area teaching community and has taught courses at various bootcamps, and has been a volunteer teacher in computer science through TEALSK12. When Sergey is not working or teaching, he is probably hiking. (He thru-hiked the Appalachian trail before graduate school).

Trent Hauck

Instructor

Trent Hauck is currently a Senior Data Scientist at Zymergen, where he builds data products that help biologists and other scientists improve their decision outcomes.

Prior to working at Zymergen, Trent spent 18 months consulting in the insurance and e-commerce industries, and prior to that worked at Zulily on the relevancy team building recommendation tools for the e-commerce site and conducting operational analysis. He is also the author of two books through Packt Publishing: Instant Data Intensive Apps with pandas How-to, and Scikit-Learn Cookbook. Ask him to get coffee, he can't say no.

Garrett Hoffman

Instructor

Garrett gets most excited about approaching data problems from a people-first perspective – employing empathy for the end user and using what we know or can learn about complex systems to drive optimal experiences and outcomes.

In his current role as Director of Data Science at StockTwits, Garrett leads efforts to use data science and machine learning to understand the network’s social dynamics and develop research and discovery tools that are used by over one million investors. A self-proclaimed “recovering actuary”, he started his career at Xerox, building probabilistic life contingency models for healthcare and retirement plans, designing liability driven asset management strategies and using Monte Carlo techniques to value executive option plans. He holds a BA in Mathematics from the The College of New Jersey and is currently working towards his MS in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also an alumni of the Metis Data Science Bootcamp. When not working Garrett enjoys playing basketball, going to the gym, keeping up with tech news and working through MOOCs to stay on top of the latest development in AI.

Samiyeh Mahmoudian

Instructor

Samiyeh (Sami) is currently a Senior Data Scientist with Intertrust, where she works on industry-leading machine learning algorithms in IOT to optimize the operation of the “vertical industry,” such as energy and insurance.

With her teaching experience and knowledge, Sami is leading the Data Science internship program for Interturst. Sami has a doctorate in Theoretical Physics from Florida State University and the National Hight Magnetic Field Laboratory. During her PhD, she worked on advanced statistical analysis to understand the nature of disordered systems—such as glasses. Prior to joining Intertrust, she was an adjunct lecturer at San Francisco State University. Teaching is her passion and she enjoys sharing her experiences with anyone willing to learn.

Nathan Grossman

Instructor

As a former engineer, Nathan enjoys data science because it allows him to apply the mathematical skill set he developed designing algorithms for individual products to optimize the behavior of entire organizations.

Nathan began his career developing signal processing algorithms for wireless communications at Qualcomm. He subsequently worked in data analytics for intellectual property applications, and in data science for telecom applications. Nathan is currently a data scientist at Wells Fargo, working on machine learning for FinTech applications. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, as well as certificates in data science and data analytics from UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. When not working, Nathan enjoys skiing, cycling, playing tennis and spending time with his wife and three sons.

Harold Li

Instructor

Harold Li is currently a Data Scientist at Lyft. 

A Princeton University graduate, Harold began his career as a strategist at Goldman Sachs, structuring various derivative strategies for corporate clients.  After leaving the financial industry, he became a data science lead at Blue Apron, working cross-functionally on product launches, developing demand forecasting and LTV models, and devising methods to design desirable recipes for customers.  At Lyft, he's currently working on initiatives that make passenger pickups as painless and convenient as possible.  In his free time, you can find him posting on his data science blog, DataBucket, or playing squash and golf.

Gordon Dri

Instructor

Gordon is currently a Data Scientist with Oracle.

Gordon has also worked in research at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy and Booth School of Business and interned as a quantitative analyst in commercial real estate investment at Magnolia Capital. He has a Master of Science in Analytics from the University of Chicago and a Bachelors of Applied Science and Engineering from the University of Toronto. Gordon thoroughly enjoys teaching and, in addition to course design and teaching at Metis, acted as a Teaching Assistant for Statistical Analysis, Data Mining and Linear and Non Linear Models in the MScA program at the University of Chicago

John Navarro

Instructor

John is a Senior Data Scientist for Kroger's data analytics subsidiary, 84.51°.

At 84.51, John leads analytical projects focusing on merchandising, customer targeting and store planning. John has also worked as a lead quantitative trader for over 17 years,  accumulating expertise in quantitative modeling, risk management and team leadership. He has an MS in Analytics and a BA in Economics, both from the University of Chicago. John also works as a Teaching Assistant for the Introduction to Statistical Analysis and Machine Learning courses in the MScA program at the University of Chicago. When he isn’t working with data he spends time with his three sons, cooking barbecue or working out.

Michael Jancsy

Instructor
Remote

Michael is an experienced data scientist and machine learning engineer, currently developing AI-powered iOS apps for musicians at Aleatoric.

Michael has been a data scientist in Silicon Valley since 2011, where he’s worked in a variety of domains, including business analytics, music information retrieval, natural language processing, and computational biology. He is also an experienced instructor of data science, having taught in Galvanize’s data science bootcamp. In 2017, he founded Aleatoric Technologies, which builds AI-powered educational apps for musicians. He earned his BA from the University of Rochester, where he triple-majored in mathematics, economics, and music.

Bobby Hughes

Senior Financial Advisor
Global

Bobby leads the finance and accounting functions for Metis, in part with the greater Kaplan Test Prep finance department. 

After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor's degree in Finance, Bobby worked as a financial analyst at Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbus, OH, in their Financial Planning & Analysis team.  Having worked in the retail sector for several years, he happily joined the Kaplan family in 2017 due to a shared desire of democratizing education across the globe through technology and innovation, and has found great fulfillment doing his part to help Kaplan and Metis improve the careers and lives of others through advanced education and life-long learning.  He works closely with all parts of the Metis team, and in his free time enjoys reading, going to the movies, and performing improvisational comedy in New York City.

Karen Benson

Executive Director of Human Resources
Global

Karen is energized by creating an environment that provides dignity and respect, authenticity and constant learning to empower and inspire employees to do and be their very best.

With more than 20 years of experience in hospitality and education, Karen Benson serves as the Executive Director of Human Resources for Kaplan Test Prep and Metis. Karen is a forward-thinking, non-traditional HR professional with a real passion for operations and technology, with an insatiable enthuthiasm for improving how we work.  Karen thrives in a creative environment where she can build relationships, learn from others and utilize her strategic mindset and diverse skill set to effectively accomplish goals. Karen has strategically developed and tactically implemented a myriad of training programs to support employees in meeting and exceeding  their career dreams. Karen joined Kaplan 11 years ago and holds an M.S. in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles. In addition, Karen is a Certified Human Resources Executive (CHRE), has a Gallup Certification, a Talent + Training Certification, and a DDI Interaction Management Training Certification. Karen enjoys reading, traveling, exploring New York City and enjoying fine cuisine.