Published: June 21, 2019
At the heart of both operations research and analytics, the key to all of the incredible research and applications, is data. Every day, O.R. and analytics professionals use data from sources around the world to provide valuable insight that is used to save lives, save money and solve problems. However, with a steady news stream of data breaches or misuse of often personal information from trusted sources many of us use everyday, such as Facebook, Target, and even healthcare providers, these incidents are becoming part of a much larger conversation regarding data security and the ethical use of data. Joining me for this episode is Scott Nestler, professor at the Mendoza College of Business with the University of Notre Dame. Scott has been a strong advocate for the importance of ethics for the analytics profession, and was the driving force behind the Certified Analytics Professional Certification Program’s Code of Ethics.
Interviewed this episode:
Scott Nestler
University of Notre Dame
Born and raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dr. Scott T. Nestler graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in Civil Engineering in 1989, and was commissioned as a United States Army officer. He spent eight years assigned to PATRIOT missile units, including deployment to Southwest Asia (SWA) for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and two years in the Republic of Korea. In 1997 he became an Operations Research / Systems Analyst, and earned a MS in Applied Mathematics (Operations Research) in 1999 from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He taught in the Mathematical Sciences department at West Point and worked as a Force Structure Analyst, at Headquarters, Department of the Army. After completing a PhD in Management Science and Finance in 2007, in the Decision, Operations, and Information Technologies department, R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, he put his studies into action back at West Point as a Research Analyst in the Operations Research Center (ORCEN), Department of Systems Engineering; and as the Director of the Center for Data Analysis and Statistics (CDAS). In 2009, he deployed overseas as Chief of Strategic Assessments for Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I). From 2010-2012, Dr. Nestler was an Assistant Professor in the Operations Research Department at the Naval Postgraduate School. In 2013, he graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA, with a Master of Strategic Studies degree. Most recently, he has served as at the Center for Army Analysis. He was awarded the Richard H. Barchi Prize, for Excellence in Operations Research, by the Military Operations Research Society, 2010; received the Omar N. Bradley Research Fellowship in Mathematics in 2007 and 2011; and is a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, the mathematics honor society. He is a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®) and an Accredited Professional Statistician (PStat®). Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Analytics Certification Board for the CAP® program.
Episode Transcript
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