As a child, I wanted to know how the world worked. This curiosity motivated me to initially research physics, so I could solve real-world problems that helped people. With that goal, I then became a data scientist to explore and answer interesting and exciting questions in all fields (not just physics) that can make a profound and positive impact for society.
Claire McKay Bowen is a principal research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population and leads the Statistical Methods Group at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on developing and assessing the quality of differentially private data synthesis methods and science communication. In 2021, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies identified her as an emerging leader in statistics for her technical contributions and leadership to statistics and the field of data privacy and confidentiality.
Bowen holds a BS in mathematics and physics from Idaho State University and an MS and PhD in statistics from the University of Notre Dame. After completing her PhD, she worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she investigated cosmic ray effects on supercomputers.
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