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Assistant Professor Josh Blumenstock has been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award for his research designing welfare-centric machine learning.

The award will support Blumenstock’s work on a new paradigm of algorithmic decision-making — one that prioritizes social impact.

When algorithms are used to make decisions, they are typically designed for profit maximization, neglecting the impact of those decisions on society’s well-being. By focusing on developing welfare-centric machine learning, Blumenstock hopes his research will inspire people designing automated decisions to account for the social consequences of those decisions.

Prayag Narula (MIMS 2012), founder of Lead Genius, says his company was first conceived as a class project in South Hall.  As it turns out, he’s not the only entrepreneur who credits his School of Information education with having helped inspire a start-up: more than 45 companies have been launched by I School alumni since 2000.  Now a trio of I School founders are giving back to Berkeley and inviting others to join them in supporting new generations of “I School Innovators.”