In 2013-2014, Case Western Reserve University President Barbara R. Snyder served as the chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), the nation's oldest membership organization of Fortune 500 CEOs, prominent college and university presidents, and other leaders dedicated to advancing innovative education and workforce solutions and improving U.S. competitiveness.
President Snyder helped focus BHEF's National Higher Education and Workforce Initiative on Data Science. The report describes the emergence of data science as an essential tool for decision making and innovation in a wide range of organizations, outlines the demand for data science experts and data analytics-enabled graduates, reports on analysis of existing data science programs at sampled colleges and universities, and highlights work underway on BHEF academic members' campuses to meet the growing workforce needs of business, government, scientific and research organizations, and cultural institutions.
The results of this initiative led Case Western Reserve University to develop a new undergraduate degree in data science.