The Society for Science is thrilled to announce the addition of two new members to its National Leadership Council (NLC). Lester Mackey, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, and Naomi Shah, the founder and CEO of Meet Cute, have joined the council. Established in 2018, the NLC consists of alumni from the Society’s three science competitions: the Science Talent Search, International Science and Engineering Fair, and middle school science research competitions.
Maya Ajmera, President & CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, expressed her excitement about the addition of these two innovative leaders to the NLC. She highlighted their valuable perspectives and expertise that will bring new ideas to the council.
Lester Mackey has a Ph.D. in computer science and master’s in statistics from UC Berkeley and his bachelor’s in computer science from Princeton University. He is known for developing machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks related to climate forecasting, healthcare, and social good applications. In 2023 he received the MacArthur Fellowship and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.
Naomi Shah studied mechanical engineering with a minor in human biology at Stanford University before starting Meet Cute as its founder and CEO. Meet Cute is a modern entertainment company that produces original scripted stories which they collaborate with thousands of creators to produce unique cinematic titles expanding traditional IP incubation process while approaching genres from new perspectives.