Innovative Leaders Join Society for Science’s National Leadership Council: Lester Mackey and Naomi Shah
Maya Ajmera, President & CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, expressed her excitement about the addition of Lester Mackey and Naomi Shah to the Society’s National Leadership Council (NLC). She described them as innovators and leaders in their respective fields, highlighting the invaluable perspectives and expertise they will bring to the Society.
Lester Mackey, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, is known for developing machine learning methods, models, and theory for large-scale learning tasks related to climate forecasting, healthcare, and social good applications. As a recipient of the 2023 MacArthur Fellowship and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Lester earned his Ph.D. in computer science and master’s in statistics from UC Berkeley and his bachelor’s in computer science from Princeton University.
Naomi Shah is the founder and CEO of Meet Cute, a modern entertainment company that produces and distributes original, scripted stories. Prior to starting Meet Cute, Naomi worked in the investment team at Union Square Ventures and at Goldman Sachs. She studied mechanical engineering with a minor in human biology at Stanford University. Currently, Meet Cute collaborates with thousands of creators to produce unique cinematic titles, expanding the traditional IP incubation process and approaching genres from new perspectives.
The NLC was established in 2018 by Society for Science as a way to bring together its alumni from its three science competitions: the Science Talent Search
