Kirk Borne

Dr. Kirk Borne is the Principal Data Scientist, an Executive Advisor, and the first Data Science Fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton since 2015, focusing on applications of data science across various disciplines. Dr. Borne is a sought-after global speaker and trainer on topics ranging from data mining, data management, big data analytics, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things, data-driven decision-making, modeling & simulation of dynamic systems to emerging technologies, future of work, education, and science.

He also provides leadership and mentoring to multi-disciplinary teams of scientists, modelers, and data scientists; and he consults with numerous external organizations, industries, agencies, and partners in the use of large data repositories and machine learning for discovery, decision support, and innovation. Dr. Borne was a professor of astrophysics and computational science at George Mason University (GMU) for 12 years, where he also served as undergraduate advisor for the GMU data science program and graduate advisor in the computational science and informatics Ph.D. program.

Kirk spent nearly 20 years supporting NASA projects, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope as data archive project scientist, NASA’s Astronomy Data Center, and NASA’s Space Science Data Operations Office. He has extensive experience in large scientific databases and information systems, including expertise in scientific data mining. He contributed to the design and development of the new Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, focusing on science data management, informatics and statistical science research, galaxies research, and education and public outreach. Borne discusses how data science can help all kinds of industries — from Fortune 500 companies to NASA’s discoveries of hundreds of previously unknown galaxies and exoplanets. He is an active contributor on social media, advocating for data literacy and has been ranked consistently since 2013 as a top worldwide influencer in Big Data and Data Science on social media. Additionally, he received the Dean’s Impact Award for Faculty Excellence from the George Mason University College of Science in 2013, was named an IBM Big Data and Analytics Hero in 2014, and was named a Fellow of the International Astrostatistics Association in 2016 for his significant contributions to big data research in astronomy.