DJ Patil

DJ Patil is a Dean's Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. A multi-faceted leader, he combines expertise in entrepreneurship, investment, and public policy. His roles include General Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, board member at Devoted Health, and founder/CTO of Crisis Text Line. He served as the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist under President Obama, driving initiatives like the Precision Medicine Initiative and Data-Driven Justice Initiative. Patil's technical leadership spans LinkedIn, Skype, PayPal, and eBay.

His academic research at the University of Maryland focused on nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, and numerical weather prediction. He directed Department of Defense projects blending computational and social sciences for threat analysis. Patil holds the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, its highest civilian honor, and advises national security via the Defense Science Board and National Defense University.

Key contributions include shaping technology policy for the Biden-Harris Transition, co-founding crisis support platforms, and cultivating early-stage ventures in healthcare and national security. His work bridges data science with societal challenges, reflected in Michael Lewis' books 'The Fifth Risk' and 'Premonition.'