Tiefenbruck focuses her mathematics background on developing strong foundations in the teaching of Data Science. She is a lecturer who serves as a core educator in the Data Science major and minor undergraduate education program through the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute. Her goal is educating students in the theoretical basis of math that will help them build a solid foundation for whatever direction they choose to take in data science, and other technology specializations. “What I like about the field of Data Science is that it’s so customizable, it’s not just: ‘Here’s a formula, plug it in.’ It’s such a broad field, it covers areas from sports to politics,” said Tiefenbruck. Her educational approach is to highlight the creative side of the academic discipline, and present students with lively projects to spark their imagination, like analyzing trends in the TV quiz show game “Jeopardy!” or predicting the genre of a song based on its lyrics.

Tiefenbruck earned her Ph.D. and master’s degrees in mathematics from UC San Diego, specializing in algebraic and enumerative combinatorics, and her bachelor’s from Loyola University, Maryland in both math and computer science. Among her academic awards include a GAANN Fellowship (federal support for scholars fulfilling a national need), a Goldwater Scholarship and a Best Teacher award from Jacobs School of Engineering. Contact: jlobue@ucsd.edu.