James Hetrick named Fletcher-Jones Endowed Professor of Data Science
James Hetrick, Pacific's award-winning, influential and internationally renowned scientist in the fields of particle physics and data science, was named the Fletcher-Jones Endowed Professor of Data Science in the School of Engineering and Computer Science in February 2018. This endowment, established by a gift from the Fletcher-Jones Foundation, funds the data science faculty position and provides additional program resources.
With the funding available through the endowment, Hetrick already has invested in the data science program. Last March, he sent five data science faculty members to the Strata Data Conference, the largest data conference series in the world, where they learned about new updates in big data and networked with leading researchers and industry leaders in the field.
"Our faculty interacted with thought leaders in the data science field, and those leaders learned about our program," said Hetrick. "This opportunity would not have been possible without the endowment funding."
The endowment will fund student research and projects, particularly paid summer fellowships that enable students to gain research experience by working on realworld projects. It also provides funds for computing resources, such as highperformance computers for student use.
Hetrick was a leading member of the analytics/data science program launch team, helping to guide its transition from its initial proposal into becoming a thriving graduate program offered on Pacific's San Francisco Campus. In helping to build this exciting new program, he has developed extensive relationships with the surrounding business communities to create interest in the program and support for student research projects.
A leading researcher, Hetrick has published more than 150 research articles in scientific journals and peer-reviewed publications. He also has fostered and mentored hundreds of student research projects during his long tenure. His depth of research includes 13 months at the South Pole Station in Antarctica studying cosmic rays, solar wind, the auroras and the earth's magnetosphere, as well as research in theoretical physics conducted at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Hetrick holds joint appointments in the College of the Pacific and the School of Engineering and Computer Science. He joined the physics faculty in the College of the Pacific in 1997 and served 17 years as department chair. He has been recognized for his teaching and research with the university's Eberhardt Teacher-Scholar Award and for his mentoring of students and alumni with the Faculty Mentor Award from the Pacific Alumni Association.
