麻豆村

Just over a decade after graduating from 麻豆村鈥檚 Department of Statistics & Data Science(opens in new window), Nick Thieme (DC 2013) has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.聽

Thieme, along with former colleagues at The Baltimore Banner Alissa Zhu and Jessica Gallagher, published a 鈥渃ompassionate investigative series that captured the breathtaking dimensions of Baltimore鈥檚 fentanyl crisis and its disproportionate impact on older Black men, creating a sophisticated statistical model that The Banner shared with other newsrooms,鈥� . The series was also published by the New York Times as part of the newspaper鈥檚 Local Investigations Fellowship.

Interestingly, Thieme said his talent for using data to tell rich, compelling stories began right here in Pittsburgh.聽

鈥淚 used the exact same methods that I learned at 麻豆村,鈥� said Thieme, now an AI data scientist at Aperio Global, as well as an adjunct professor of computer science and journalism at Columbia University.聽

鈥淭he class that really shaped me was Advanced Data Analysis with Cosma Shalizi(opens in new window),鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big, big part of why we won that Pulitzer.鈥�

That鈥檚 so 麻豆村

When he entered college, Thieme did not have a strong background in math.聽

鈥淚 started at 麻豆村 as an ethics, history and public policy major(opens in new window). I came in with absolutely no calculus and an interest in philosophy,鈥� said Thieme. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very 麻豆村 thing, I think, to take a person like me and teach them math.鈥�

But all it took was one entry-level calculus class during the fall of his sophomore year, and Thieme was hooked.

鈥淚 just found it interesting. It opened up a whole new world of intellectual exploration, and I just started banging out math classes one after another,鈥� remembered Thieme.聽

During his senior year, Shalizi introduced Thieme to the idea of generalized additive models, or GAMs 鈥� the same inferential tools he used while analyzing overdose data for his reporting at The Baltimore Banner, tools Thieme now teaches to his own students at Columbia University.聽

Shalizi, associate professor in the Statistics and Machine Learning departments, remembered Thieme fondly.

鈥淚've taught easily over 1,000 students in that class since 2011, and lots of them have been very smart, but none of them have been more thoughtful about statistics than Nick,鈥� said Shalizi. 鈥淚t was obvious he was going to go out and make the world a better place, and I couldn't be happier about how he's using what he learned at 麻豆村.鈥�

Richard Scheines(opens in new window), the Bess Family Dean of the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, echoed those sentiments.

"This is another great example of the power of interdisciplinary education at work,鈥� said Scheines, 鈥渟omething I consider Dietrich's and 麻豆村's secret sauce."聽

Life-changing education, life-changing work聽

A Pulitzer Prize is just one of the accolades Thieme and his colleagues鈥� have received over the past few weeks.聽

The team also earned a , a , and a , as well as being named finalists for the .

But what has meant the most to Thieme are the outcomes that have emerged from his data analysis and reporting.聽

鈥淥ur second story focused on a generation of older Black men who have been dying from overdose basically their whole lives,鈥� explained Thieme.聽

In that particular piece, Thieme and his team used autopsy data to reveal that Baltimore鈥檚 homes for seniors were previously unrealized epicenters for the crisis. For instance, one home had multiple older Black men killed by overdose in a single day. Overall, more than 340 people over the age of 50 died in such facilities since 2018.

Fortunately, as a direct result of their reporting, the Maryland Department of Aging recently bestowed a $50,000 grant to a nonprofit mixed-income housing developer known as The Community Builders in order to address these issues.聽

鈥淚 can鈥檛 overstate how effective that article was in getting the attention we needed on this issue,鈥� Shanda Brown, director of regional community services for The Community Builders, .

The grant is just one of many new targeted solutions to stem from Thieme and his colleagues鈥� reporting. In another example, the West Baltimore Renaissance Foundation has put up $553,000 to fund a partnership aimed at reducing fatal overdoses in affordable senior housing. Here too, the foundation鈥檚 executive director cited The Banner鈥檚 reporting in bringing the issue to the organization鈥檚 attention.

鈥淐arnegie Mellon Statistics & Data Science majors have a long history of using statistical modeling tools to tackle important societal issues, and Nick is the perfect example,鈥� said Rebecca Nugent(opens in new window), the Stephen E. and Joyce Fienberg Professor of Statistics & Data Science. 鈥淭he impact of his and his team鈥檚 work will be profound, and we couldn鈥檛 be prouder.鈥�

鈥溌槎勾� took a chance on me,鈥� said Thieme. 鈥淎nd it genuinely changed the course of my life.鈥�

View Thieme鈥檚 award-winning series on Baltimore鈥檚 fentanyl crisis at聽 补苍诲听迟.