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Building a National Understanding of AI Jobs, Skills, and Credentials
Dr. Talitha Washington serves as Principal Investigator of the U.S. National Science Foundation–funded Research Coordination Network on Assessing and Predicting Job Outcomes in AI (RCN APJO-AI). This national initiative convenes leaders across academia, industry, workforce development, and government to advance coordinated insight into AI jobs, emerging skills, and credential pathways. Through cross-sector collaboration, the network informs research, education, and policy strategies that strengthen the nation’s AI workforce ecosystem. To join the network, visit www.aijobsrcn.org. |
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Announced January 15, 2025 - Talitha Washington Named Executive Director of Howard University Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics
The Howard University Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics has named Talitha Washington, Ph.D., as its new executive director. “In these new roles at Howard University, I am honored to lead efforts in advancing data science, analytics, and artificial intelligence to tackle complex global problems, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and create impactful experiential opportunities that drive the university’s mission of excellence, innovation, and service forward through the power of data,” said Washington. |
As a mathematical scholar, Dr. Talitha Washington educates and stewards students, faculty, and the larger community to impact the grand challenges of our world.
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Featured as a Women's History Maker.
Video directed by Tommy Taylor. |
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From UConn Magazine, Summer 2022 - Revenge of the Data Scientists
"'She has done wonders for the mathematics community,' says Choi. Washington’s work has garnered many industry accolades, among them an NSF Women’s History Maker award and a Howard University Outstanding Faculty award. She recently became the first person ever to be named both a 2021 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) — one of just 46 Fellows from around the world — and a 2021 Fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) in the same year. She is now the president-elect of AWM. None of this surprised McKenna. 'Indomitable is the word I’d use,' he said. 'You could see the joy she had in doing what she did. And she was just not intimidated by anything.'" |
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ABout
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Talitha Washington, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Center for Applied Data Science & Analytics (CADSA), Sean McCleese Endowed Chair, and Professor of Mathematics at Howard University. She also serves as Co-Chair of the President's AI Advisory Council, which guides the University's AI strategy across research, academic, and enterprise initiatives. Her work spans applied mathematics, dynamical systems, data science, artificial intelligence, and STEM education, with a focus on expanding opportunity, advancing innovation, and strengthening the impact of research and education.
Dr. Washington serves as Principal Investigator of the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded Research Coordination Network on Assessing and Predicting Job Outcomes in AI, a national initiative focused on building a coordinated understanding of AI jobs, skills, and credentials to strengthen the nation's AI workforce ecosystem. She is Past-President of the Association for Women in Mathematics and a former member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau. She has led and contributed to major externally funded initiatives in data science, AI, workforce development, and STEM education. An accomplished scholar and advocate for excellence, Dr. Washington has been recognized with numerous honors. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, as well as mathematics honor societies Kappa Mu Epsilon and Pi Mu Epsilon. Her accolades include the 2019 BEYA STEM Innovator Award, the 2019 Outstanding Faculty Award from Howard University, and the 2020 NSF Director’s Award for Superior Accomplishment. She is a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Washington was a VIGRE Research Associate in the Department of Mathematics at Duke University and served as the inaugural Director of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Data Science Initiative and the NSF National Data Science Alliance. Her academic appointments include assistant professorships at The College of New Rochelle and the University of Evansville, and a full professorship at Clark Atlanta University. As a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), she worked in the Convergence Accelerator, now housed within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP), and in the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), where she led the development of NSF's first Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. After graduating early from Benjamin Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana, she studied abroad in Juan Viñas, Costa Rica. She earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Spelman College, including a semester abroad at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. She later completed her master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics at the University of Connecticut, which also awarded her an honorary doctorate of science. She also completed the Chief Data and AI Officer Certificate Program at Carnegie Mellon University. Across her scholarship, leadership, and service, Washington remains committed to expanding opportunity, advancing innovation, and strengthening the impact of research, education, and emerging technologies. Click for high-resolution photos. |
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Dr. Washington's Notes on AI
A newsletter on how AI and data are transforming higher education across teaching, research, workforce development, and institutional strategy |
speaking engagements
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October 7, 2026, AI Is Here. What Should Education Become? AI Education Leadership Summit, Washington, DC
October 8, 2026, The Next Frontier of Evaluation and Assessment in the Age of AI, CREA Conference, Chicago, IL November 11-13, 2026, Communication in the Age of AI, CIEE Study Abroad Conference, Cape Town, South Africa January 12-15, 2027, J. Sutherland Frame Lecture - Pi Mu Epsilon, Joint Mathematics Meetings, Chicago, IL |