Biography

Talitha Washington, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Center for Applied Data Science & Analytics (CADSA), Sean McCleese Endowed Chair, and Professor of Mathematics at Howard University. She also serves as Co-Chair of the President's AI Advisory Council, which guides the University's AI strategy across research, academic, and enterprise initiatives. Her work spans applied mathematics, dynamical systems, data science, artificial intelligence, and STEM education, with a focus on expanding opportunity, advancing innovation, and strengthening the impact of research and education.

Washington serves as Principal Investigator of the U.S. National Science Foundation–funded Research Coordination Network on Assessing and Predicting Job Outcomes in AI, a national initiative focused on building a coordinated understanding of AI jobs, skills, and credentials to strengthen the nation’s AI workforce ecosystem. She is Past-President of the Association for Women in Mathematics and a former member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau. She has led and contributed to major externally funded initiatives in data science, AI, workforce development, and STEM education.

An accomplished scholar and advocate for excellence, Washington has been recognized with numerous honors. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, as well as mathematics honor societies Kappa Mu Epsilon and Pi Mu Epsilon. Her accolades include the 2019 BEYA STEM Innovator Award, the 2019 Outstanding Faculty Award from Howard University, and the 2020 NSF Director’s Award for Superior Accomplishment. She is a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI), the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Washington was a VIGRE Research Associate in the Department of Mathematics at Duke University and served as the inaugural Director of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Data Science Initiative and the NSF National Data Science Alliance. Her academic appointments include assistant professorships at The College of New Rochelle and the University of Evansville, and a full professorship at Clark Atlanta University. As a former Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), she worked in the Convergence Accelerator within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) and in the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), where she led the development of NSF's first Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program.

After graduating early from Benjamin Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana, she studied abroad in Juan Viñas, Costa Rica. She earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Spelman College, including a semester abroad at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. She later completed her master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics at the University of Connecticut, which also awarded her an honorary Doctor of Science. She also completed Carnegie Mellon University’s Chief Data and AI Officer Certificate Program.

Across her scholarship, leadership, and service, Washington remains committed to expanding opportunity, advancing innovation, and strengthening the impact of research, education, and emerging technologies.