Jelani Nelson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jelani Nelson
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| Born | June 28, 1984 (age 41) |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MEng, PhD) |
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| Thesis | Sketching and Streaming High-Dimensional Vectors |
| Doctoral advisor | Erik Demaine and Piotr Indyk |
Jelani Osei Nelson (Amharic: ጄላኒ ኔልሰን; born June 28, 1984) is an American professor. He teaches Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He received the 2014 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This award is one of the highest honors for young scientists in the United States.
Nelson also created AddisCoder. This is a special summer program. It teaches computer science to high school students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Early Life and Education
Jelani Nelson was born in Los Angeles, California. His mother is Ethiopian and his father is African-American. He grew up in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, he studied mathematics and computer science. He continued his studies at MIT to earn his PhD in computer science. His doctoral work focused on "Sketching and Streaming High-Dimensional Vectors." This means he studied how to quickly process and understand very large amounts of data.
After MIT, Nelson worked as a researcher. He studied at places like the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Princeton University. He became an expert in algorithms that handle huge datasets.
Career in Computer Science
Nelson is very interested in "big data." This is when there's so much information that regular computers struggle to handle it. He works on creating "efficient algorithms." These are like clever recipes that help computers process data much faster.
He joined Harvard University as a computer science professor in 2013. Later, in 2019, he moved to UC Berkeley. He is known for his work on "streaming algorithms." These algorithms help analyze data as it arrives, without needing to store it all first. He also works on "dimensionality reduction." This is a way to simplify complex data, making it easier to understand and use.
Nelson has also received several awards for his research. These include the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2015. He also got an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in 2017.
Helping Students Learn Math
Jelani Nelson believes that all students should have strong math education. He has spoken out about changes to math teaching in California. He worries that some proposed changes might make it harder for certain students to get a good math foundation. He wants to make sure everyone has the chance to learn advanced math. This helps more students get into science and technology careers.
AddisCoder and JamCoders Programs
In 2011, while still at MIT, Nelson started AddisCoder. This summer program teaches computer science and algorithms to high school students in Ethiopia. Over 500 students have learned from this program. Many of them have gone on to study at top universities like Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.
In 2022, Nelson also helped start JamCoders. This is a similar summer camp in Jamaica. It teaches coding and algorithms, just like AddisCoder.
David Harold Blackwell Summer Research Institute
Nelson also helped create the David Harold Blackwell Summer Research Institute. This program aims to help more African-American students earn PhDs in mathematics.
Awards and Honours
- 2022 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award
- 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
- 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship
- 2011 George M. Sprowls Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis
- 2010 IBM Research Pat Goldberg Memorial Best Paper Award
