AFS Names Ian McCulloh Chief Data Scientist

Accenture Federal Services has named Ian McCulloh, a scientist at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory, to serve as the company’s chief data scientist.

In the new role, McCulloh will focus on advancing innovative analytics solutions for Accenture’s federal customers, the company said.

At the Johns Hopkins lab, McCulloh established a 60-member applied science group and oversaw numerous grants and programs that supported the U.S. national security community.

McCulloh was also a lecturer in the university’s Whiting School of Engineering and an associate professor in the school of public health. He has studied and taught such subject as social media, crowdsourcing, human computation and statistical methods of computer science, among others.

“We live in an age of acceleration and Dr. McCulloh’s experience using applied science to test and deploy advanced data science solutions will translate into value at scale for our federal customers,” said Bryan Rich, head of the Analytics and Applied Intelligence practice at Accenture Federal Services.

Tom Greiner, senior managing director of the technology business at Accenture Federal Services, added: “Dr. McCulloh has proven expertise in applying computational social science research to drive measurable mission value for our military. By pairing that experience with Accenture’s’ global reach in solving similar at-scale problems for Fortune 100 firms, we have an opportunity to really help our federal clients better understand and navigate their toughest scenarios and environments.”

McCulloh is also a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army. At West Point, he founded the West Point Network Science Center and created the Army’s Advanced Network Analysis and Targeting program.

Ian McCulloh adds, “I look forward to joining a forward-looking, multi-disciplinary team and bringing the best solutions to our federal customers.”

McCulloh holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, two master’s degrees from the Florida State University, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Washington.

Related: AFS Hires George Batsakis to Lead Defense and Intelligence Practice