Analyze. Interpret. Connect. Dominguez Center for Data Science

Dear Bucknellians,

The Center is bursting with energy this semester! With 39 student fellows, our whiteboards are covered in graphs, data tables, and code. Our student fellows represent all three colleges, working together to tackle interdisciplinary challenges. Beyond our collaborative projects, we are hosting a variety of data science & AI workshops and events. From the data newbie to the AI expert, we have something here for the whole Bucknell Community.

Warmest regards,

Kelly McConville, Director

Kelly McConville standing next to a student, talking jovially about the work up on a whiteboard.

DATA POINTS

44 student workers from 17 different majors

For fall 2025 and spring 2026

DCDS STAFF

The DCDS welcomed two new staff members!

Julie Guinn-Bailey and Claire Cahoon standing next to each other.

Julie Guinn-Bailey (left) and Claire Cahoon (right)

Julie Guinn-Bailey pointing at a drawing of a scatterplot drawn on a whiteboard, standing next to Claire Cahoon (both holding markers)

Julie Guinn-Bailey '93, P'26, P'27

Julie joined the team in March 2025 as the Administrative Coordinator for the Dominguez Center for Data Science and the Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. She has been at Bucknell since 2017, previously serving as an Academic Assistant for East Asian Studies and Spanish (sí, se habla español). In her spare time, Julie enjoys spending time with her two sons, baking, and fostering cats for a local rescue group.

Claire Cahoon

Claire started in February 2026 as the DCDS Data Scientist. She has been at Bucknell since 2022 in the Library, and previously served as the Staff Fellow for DCDS. She will focus on mentoring students, teaching and managing workshops, and helping to expand the Data Science Student Fellows Program. In her spare time, Claire enjoys doing puzzles, going for walks, and sewing.

Dedication of the Dominguez Center for Data Science

October 22, 2025 in Lewisburg, PA

John Bravman, Michael Dominguez, and Kelly McConville standing behind a giant ribbon in front of the Center for Data Science, ready to cut the ribbon.

Kelly McConville standing at a podium speaking to a large crowd of people.

On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the Dominguez Center for Data Science and Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation gathered for a joint dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Remarks from the founding donors, campus leaders, and students involved in both centers were followed by tours of the spaces in Taylor Hall dedicated to the centers.

Michael Dominguez standing behind a podium speaking.

Michael Dominguez '91, Founding Donor for the Dominguez Center for Data Science

The event tent outside Taylor Hall, the physical location of the DCDS and PGCEI

Celine Chang and Rebecca Beneroff, standing behind a podium speaking in front of a crowd.

DCDS Student Fellows Celine Chang ’27 and Rebecca Beneroff ’25 ’27

2026 Bucknell Centers Summit

April 17th, 2026 in Denver, CO

Register to Attend

JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell, Emmett Seaborn, and Jim Bolognese from the DCDS Advisory Board standing in a circle and talking.

Join the Dominguez Center for Data Science and the Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation for insightful discussions featuring thought leaders and industry experts at the Bucknell Centers Summit. The event will feature a keynote address by Jerry Farano '88 and alumni panels related to data, AI, innovation, investments, energy, and the environment. There will also be opportunities to network with alumni, faculty, staff, and students.

Learn more on the 2026 Centers Summit website!

DATA PROJECTS

The JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell ’75 & Andrew Ezzell Data Science Student Fellows Program

The student fellows program is in its third semester and provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with campus and industry mentors on real-world projects. There is a strong focus on developing a student's ability to collaborate and to effectively communicate about their work.

Kelly McConville listening as a group of three students points to a whiteboard to explain their work.

Three students standing behind a podium, presenting their research.

As the program continues to develop, we are hoping to:

Increase the number of external projects where our students collaborate with Bucknell alumni.
Expand the program to meet the growing demand by hiring more students, especially in non-STEM departments.

Spring 2026 projects

See the final presentations from Spring 2025

AI INITIATIVES

The Dominguez Center for Data Science continues to be an important part of the conversations surrounding AI on Bucknell's campus.

In the fall, we collaborated with the Bertrand Library to hold a lecture and discussion titled, "AI in Scholarly Communications: Risks, Realities, and Potentials" with Rachel Sweeney, Bucknell's Scholarly Communications & Copyright Librarian.

Rachel Sweeney standing behind a podium, gesturing at a screen.

Chester Ismay visited campus in November and gave a talk for students and a workshop on "Teaching and Learning with LLMs" for faculty and staff. You can read a summary of his talk from Sophie Yang, one of our Senior Data Science Fellows: Data Science in the Age of AI: AI is the Engine & You are the Engineer

This spring, the center is offering a workshop on Google Gemini and NotebookLM as well as co-sponsoring the 2026 Bucknell AI Symposium on May 19th, 2026. This event brings together faculty, staff, and industry leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges with generative AI, featuring Davis Schneiderman as this year's keynote speaker.

EDUCATION

Workshop Series

The Dominguez Center for Data Science offers a wide range of workshops throughout the summer and academic year. Our series for Fall 2025 focused on data visualization, covering data visualization design, graphs in Google Sheets, and Tableau. This spring, we shifted our focus to other tools with an SQL workshop and a short series on Excel.

Spring 2026 Workshops

Fall 2025 Workshops

DATA Courses

New data science courses being offered:

DATA 100: Intro to Data Science
DATA 250: Fundamentals of Data Science
DATA 306: Data Science and Statistical Consulting

Three students standing at a large whiteboard covered in writing and drawings. One student is pointing to a piece and talking to the rest of the group.

CONNECT WITH US

Your support makes this work possible! Please consider making a gift, which will allow us to provide more students with high-impact data science experiences. These opportunities are essential to preparing our students to be data leaders.