Writing in the October issue of Harvard Business Review, Thomas H. Davenport and D.J. Patil give the Institute’s groundbreaking Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) degree program high praise as one of only a few sources of talent with proven strengths in data science alongside Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Harvard, and Carnegie Mellon. The HBR special issue on “Big Data” highlights the looming shortage of analytics professionals needed to grapple with the rapidly increasing size and complexity of data. The Institute’s founding director, Michael Rappa, expressed his gratitude: “It’s an honor to see the MSA mentioned in esteemed company, and to be recognized as one of the leading programs with a proven track record. It’s no small achievement.” Founded at NC State six years ago, the MSA is the first and preeminent degree of its kind in the nation and a model for other universities. (See: Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.)
