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Bret Larget, professor and former chair of the Department of Statistics, has been named the inaugural associate dean for curriculum and interdisciplinary initiatives for the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence (CAI). 

Larget will provide leadership for curriculum and academic programs across CAI, helping shape the academic foundation of the new college and create interdisciplinary education across Computer Sciences, Statistics, and the Information School. 

“I got to know Bret through his leadership in developing our data science major, and I was incredibly impressed by his dedication, depth of knowledge and ability to bring people together around a complicated undertaking,” Founding Dean Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau said. “That experience and his deep commitment to service will be enormously valuable as we build the academic foundation of CAI and think creatively about what we can make possible for students.” 

Larget brings extensive experience in curriculum development and academic planning to the role. Most notably, he played a key role in the creation and development of UW–Madison’s data science major and served for five years as chair of the Data Science Program Committee as the program grew from its inception to become the second-largest major on campus. 

In his new role, Larget will help lead work to develop proposed requirements for new bachelor’s degrees at CAI and establish college-level academic policies as more than 40 existing programs transition to the new college. He will also oversee efforts to identify and create new opportunities for interdisciplinary education across the college. 

“One of the opportunities we have in building CAI is to create an academic experience that gives students depth in computing, data, and information while preserving the flexibility to explore everything a university like UW–Madison has to offer,” Larget said. “I’m excited to build on our existing programs, create new interdisciplinary opportunities, and make it easy for students to connect what they learn in CAI with other fields.” 

Larget has contributed to a wide range of university and college committees spanning curriculum, academic planning, student affairs, and campus governance. His service has included the College of Letters & Science Curriculum Committee, General Education Committee, Campus Planning Committee, and Dean of Students Advisory Committee. 

As a researcher, Larget develops computational and statistical tools to study evolution and collaborates widely with researchers applying statistics to questions in the biological sciences. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota and his master’s and doctoral degrees in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley. 

A Wisconsin native, Larget grew up in Wauwatosa and lived in Madison as a young child while his father was a graduate student at UW–Madison. His family’s ties to the university now span three generations, including two of his children whose degrees from the university include data science and computer science.

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