The University of Connecticut is pleased to announce that Kun Chen, Professor of Statistics, has been named Academic Director of UConn’s M.S. in Data Science program.

Chen brings to the position an exceptional record of interdisciplinary scholarship, academic leadership, teaching, and mentorship. A professor in UConn’s Department of Statistics and a research fellow in the Center for Population Health at UConn Health, his research spans statistical learning, machine learning, optimization, health data science, bioinformatics, population health, and healthcare analytics.

An internationally recognized scholar, Chen is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. In 2024, he received the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Innovative Scholarship Award, which recognizes outstanding interdisciplinary research addressing significant challenges to knowledge, human well-being, and society. His work exemplifies the collaborative, application-focused approach that is central to UConn’s vision for data science.

As Academic Director, Chen will provide intellectual and strategic leadership for the M.S. in Data Science program. He will work across UConn’s schools and colleges to guide the program’s academic direction, strengthen its curriculum, support faculty collaboration, enhance the student experience, deepen relationships with industry and external partners, and identify new opportunities for growth and innovation.

UConn’s M.S. in Data Science is a 30-credit, career-focused graduate program offered in both an intensive, cohort-based on-campus format and a flexible online format. Drawing on faculty expertise from five schools and colleges—the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, the School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Neag School of Education—the interdisciplinary curriculum prepares students across the full data science lifecycle, including statistical analysis, computing, machine learning, data management, visualization, communication, research design, ethics, and responsible data use. The program culminates in a team-based capstone through which students work collaboratively to address consequential, real-world challenges, often in partnership with industry and organizational collaborators.

Chen’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the field. As data science and artificial intelligence rapidly converge, organizations increasingly need professionals who combine advanced analytical and AI capabilities with strong statistical foundations, ethical judgment, and deep domain expertise.

Under Chen’s leadership, the program will build on its strengths in statistics, computing, machine learning, and applied problem-solving while expanding opportunities at the intersection of data science and artificial intelligence. This next phase will strengthen connections with UConn’s growing AI research and educational ecosystem, deepen industry engagement, expand the program’s national visibility, and prepare graduates to lead in a professional landscape increasingly shaped by generative AI, advanced machine learning, and intelligent decision systems. At the same time, the program will preserve the qualities that distinguish it: its interdisciplinary structure, academic rigor, commitment to responsible practice, and focus on translating technical knowledge into meaningful real-world impact.

Chen succeeds Professor Jeremy Teitelbaum, who has served as Academic Director since 2023 and is stepping down from the role. As the program’s first dedicated director following its launch, Jeremy has led the M.S. in Data Science program through a formative period of growth and development. His leadership has helped establish the program’s academic identity, strengthen its interdisciplinary partnerships, expand enrollment, and build a strong foundation for continued success. We are sincerely grateful for Jeremy’s vision, dedication, and service, and we thank him for the lasting contributions he has made to UConn’s M.S. in Data Science program.

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor title is awarded annually following a university-wide nomination process and a rigorous review by a faculty and student committee. Final selections are approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which confirmed this year’s awardees at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Dr. Luyi Sun is a globally recognized materials scientist and professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Connecticut, where he also holds a joint appointment in the Institute of Materials Science. Since joining UConn in 2013, he has led an internationally renowned research program focused on nanostructured hybrid materials for functional, environmental, and energy-related applications.

Dr. Sun’s prolific contributions to science are evidenced by over 310 peer-reviewed journal articles in high-impact publications such as Nature Communications, Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Advanced Materials. His work has earned more than 23,000 citations and an h-index of 83, and has been highlighted by MIT Technology Review, Smithsonian Magazine, and New Scientist, among many others. He is the inventor or co-inventor of 28 issued U.S. patents and more than 50 corresponding foreign patents, seven of which have been commercialized/licensed. The materials and devices invented in his lab have been featured in global exhibitions, including at the Material ConneXion Library in New York and the Penn Museum.

Dr. Sun is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. He has also been recognized with the Morand Lambla Award from the Polymer Processing Society and was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Sun has taught rigorous and interdisciplinary courses such as Thermodynamics and Polymer Processing, and has advised dozens of Ph.D. students, M.S. students and postdoctoral researchers, and more than 160 undergraduate research assistants. His students have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry, and many have received prestigious fellowships and national honors.

Dr. Sun has also demonstrated sustained leadership in academic and professional service. As Director of the UConn Polymer Program from 2018 to 2021, he expanded faculty engagement and strengthened the program’s profile. He has held leadership roles in national scientific organizations and organized more than 80 symposia around the world. His editorial work includes serving as Associate Editor of Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials.

Due to his outstanding record of research innovation, teaching, mentorship, and professional service, Dr. Luyi Sun strongly merits recognition as a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor.

The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor title is awarded annually following a university-wide nomination process and a rigorous review by a faculty and student committee. Final selections are approved by the UConn Board of Trustees, which confirmed this year’s awardees at its June 25, 2025 meeting.

Professor Anne Dailey, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Intellectual Life and the Ellen Ash Peters Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, is a nationally recognized scholar whose work bridges constitutional law, family law, and psychoanalytic theory. A member of the UConn faculty since 1988, Professor Dailey has made transformative contributions to legal scholarship, education, and public service, with far-reaching influence across disciplines and institutions.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Following law school, she completed a judicial clerkship with Judge José Cabranes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She has since become a pioneering figure in integrating psychoanalytic theory into legal analysis, most notably through her acclaimed book Law and the Unconscious: A Psychoanalytic Perspective, published by Yale University Press. This work received three prestigious honors: the Book Prize from the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Book Prize from the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis, and the Faculty Book Award from the UConn Humanities Institute.

Professor Dailey’s scholarship is widely cited and influential. Her co-authored articles The New Law of the Child and The New Parental Rights, and her sole authored In Loco Reipublicae, all published in top-tier law journals, have shaped the national discourse on children’s constitutional rights, state responsibility for families, and evolving family structures. She is a member of the American Law Institute and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and Humanities.

She has held visiting faculty appointments at Yale, Harvard, and Penn Law Schools and has been named an Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center and a Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Dailey is a dedicated and inspiring teacher of family law and constitutional law. She is also a deeply valued mentor to students and junior faculty, and her efforts have helped elevate the national profile of the UConn School of Law.

Professor Dailey’s scholarly distinction, interdisciplinary innovation, and enduring contributions to teaching and service make her a truly worthy recipient of the University of Connecticut’s highest faculty honor.