
How I Became U.S. Chief Data Scientist - danso
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/05/06/email-dj-patil-how-i-became-chief-data-scientist
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sinatra
The nugget was this:

> But then I took a calculus class — and it rocked my world. The lecturer
> really took the time to explain deep concepts and helped me see the
> intrinsic beauty. Today, when I explain some of the concepts I learned back
> then, I still call upon the way it was explained to me all those years ago.

We say we want kids to find their passion and interest. But, in many cases,
the passion / interest is created by accident or serendipity. You can love a
lot of topics if they are explained very well and in an interesting manner.

~~~
vishaldpatel
And by accident, you mean, a really great teacher. Had teachers who would move
me into learning physics and chemistry. Then I had teachers who'd put me to
sleep.

Passion can be kindled, that's for certain, but after a certain point it must
come from within.

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alexophile
So I strongly believe in public schooling and the importance of education
access for everyone, but I think this piece glosses over a few important links
in the chain of events that lead to his success.

1) His father has a phd from MIT and founded a semiconductor manufacturer when
DJ was 12, then went on to later become a VC.

2) The community college in question is De Anza College in Cupertino. This
isn't just some random school that gave him the education to enter the
previously unapproachable world of tech, Steve Wozniak went there.

We're still a long way from decoupling education and class. I think it's good
that this case is being made, we just need to be more realistic when we talk
about the successes we're seeing.

~~~
jczhang
Wow, yeah, he certainly made it sound like CC got him there in a more
significant way.

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egusa
One thing I think the state of California does very well (where De Anza is
located), is the transition from community college to world-leading
universities (Ex: UC Berkeley, etc.) is very good (I think much better than
other states). I knew many students who attended a community college for 2
years, and then went to UCLA or Berkeley (the college admissions seem very
open to this), and they ended up saving money and doing very well after.

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ericcumbee
click bait title, no real hard information, and more trying to sell universal
access to community college.

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techlibertarian
Am I the only person who doesn’t give a shit about our government having a
Chief Data Scientist, a CTO, and every other tech-related position? After what
Snowden leaked to the world, the government, including some of these who the
government has hired, are trying to convince us to spend a year or two working
for the government? They’ve straight up lied to the American people about
their capabilities. Why should I want to work for them if scrapping that isn’t
within my power?

Also, pushing more people into community college isn’t inherently a good idea.
Are people still unaware of the higher education bubble?

~~~
danso
Technology, and those who fully understand it, is absolutely vital in not only
efficient government, but in efficiently monitoring and regulating it. You'll
see the difference when trying to FOIA/FOIL an agency that gets it versus one
that doesn't.

There's a lot more to technology and life than spying.

~~~
squidfood
Indeed. A huge push in my agency is to comply with the initiative to make
research data publicly available
([https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-
public-...](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-
access-results-federally-funded-research)). This isn't lip-service, we have
strict local deadlines for getting data online.

The hurdles are entirely technological, almost everyone who works here
(scientists anyway) love the principle.

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bstrand
Relentless self-promotion?

Oh, community college.

~~~
PeterWhittaker
And? Or perhaps, so?

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wooyi
There are many education pathways to a good career. The traditional 4 year
college after high school is only one of them. It's great to see real examples
of these different pathways.

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domdip
Interestingly, he was Chief Product Officer of Color Labs, one of the more
buzzy failures of the last few years.

Not knocking his other accomplishments. I'm just surprised I haven't seen it
mentioned in any of the recent press he's been getting (even the tech press).

------
bra-ket
good ol' hustle

