Liz Langdon-Gray is the inaugural Executive Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI). In this role, she is responsible for implementing the academic vision of the Initiative, engaging closely with Harvard schools and the Office of the President and Provost. Prior to joining the HDSI, Liz held positions in Harvard’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR), first as Director of Research Policy and Education, and then as Assistant Provost for Research Development and Planning in which role she led the strategic planning for the Harvard Data Science Initiative. In her time in the OVPR, she also led the University’s development and implementation of its financial conflicts of interest policy and created a central research development organization that doubled the number of external funding competitions at Harvard.
Liz began her career at the University of California, San Francisco. She spent ten years with the University, most recently as the UC System’s Legislative Director for Research in Washington, DC where she worked on behalf of the ten campuses of the UC System on issues including stem cell research, climate change, alternative energy research and development, and federal funding for the physical, agricultural, and life sciences.
Liz received her MA in International Relations and Spanish from the University of St. Andrews and her LL.M. in International Law from the University of Edinburgh.