Benjamin Soltoff

Benjamin Soltoff is a Senior Lecturer in Information Science at Cornell University, teaching courses in data science, research design, and web design. He holds a BA in Political Science from James Madison University and MA/PhD from Penn State in Political Science with concentrations in American Government, Political Methodology, and Law & Courts. His research explores computational methods in social sciences, including judicial politics and data-driven policy analysis.

Previously, he co-developed the Masters in Computational Social Science at the University of Chicago and served as its Associate Director. His work bridges computational modeling and social science theory, often applying machine learning and text analysis to study institutions and governance.

He maintains an active blog analyzing puzzles from FiveThirtyEight, focusing on probability, game theory, and mathematical modeling. Notable contributions include analyses of sports strategy, cultural traditions, and optimization problems.