Society for Science is thrilled to announce the addition of two highly accomplished individuals, Lester Mackey and Naomi Shah, to its National Leadership Council (NLC). The NLC was established in 2018 and consists of alumni from the Society’s three science competitions: Science Talent Search, International Science and Engineering Fair, and middle school science research competitions.
Maya Ajmera, President & CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, expressed her excitement about the new members joining the NLC. She described them as innovators and leaders in their respective fields, emphasizing the valuable perspectives and expertise they will bring to the Society.
Lester Mackey is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research who has made significant contributions in developing machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks related to climate forecasting, healthcare, and social good applications. He is a recipient of the 2023 MacArthur Fellowship and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Lester earned his Ph.D. in computer science and master’s in statistics from UC Berkeley and his bachelor’s in computer science from Princeton University.
Naomi Shah is an entrepreneurial leader who founded Meet Cute, a modern entertainment company that produces and distributes original scripted stories across various mediums such as film, television, podcasts, books, games, music videos, web series, short films