McCollum Gift Creates Chair in Data Sciences

The gift will serve as a cornerstone upon which growth and development of the University’s initiatives in data sciences will be built.

“Jenni and I are extremely thankful for the opportunity to support President Livingstone’s vision for Baylor serving as a preeminent Christian research university,” Mark McCollum, said. “We love Baylor, and believe in Baylor’s mission and strategic direction, particularly toward growing Baylor’s capacity and impact in the data sciences due to the field’s promise in benefitting communities around the world.”

Baylor is conducting a national search for a person with a distinguished record as a scholar and teacher to become the inaugural holder of the Chair in Data Sciences.

One of the five signature academic initiatives of Illuminate, Baylor’s academic strategic plan, the focus on data sciences will enable the creation of a center of research excellence through multidisciplinary scholarship and collaboration with faculty appointments from departments, schools, and external partners. Data sciences is a rapidly advancing field relying on techniques and theories drawn from machine learning, data mining, scalable data storage, and digital communication, as well as the disciplines of statistics, mathematics, and library sciences.

As it builds, Baylor’s data sciences initiative will initially be focused in three complementary areas: biomedical informatics, cybersecurity, and business analytics. Ethical uses of large-scale data will be an overarching theme that permeates all facets of work. Baylor will address the mounting need for dynamic and rapid data analytics that spans virtually all major research emphases on campus, recognizing that data sciences is the field that can drive all others.

“As Baylor alumni and the parents of a Baylor graduate, Mark and Jennifer McCollum are passionate members of the Baylor Family and exemplify the Baylor spirit,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “Their mission-oriented approach to philanthropy has guided them toward making this transformational gift to advance Baylor’s leadership in the field of data sciences. Mark and Jennifer are wonderful champions for our students, and we are honored that they have chosen to come alongside us in an area we believe will have a lasting impact on the world through research and creating leaders in a rapidly advancing, interdisciplinary field.”

Mark McCollum serves as president and CEO of Weatherford International plc, one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies. A member of Baylor’s Board of Regents since 2011, McCollum also serves on the Board of Advocates for Baylor’s School of Engineering and Computer Science and on the Board of Trustees for Baylor College of Medicine.

Jennifer McCollum graduated from Baylor with a BSEd in 1980 and earned a Master of Educational Psychology from the University of Houston in 1982. She has served on Baylor’s Advisory Board in the School of Education and is a member of the Baylor Women’s Association of Houston.

Through previous gifts, they have supported areas ranging from scholarships for education students and basketball student-athletes to the Baylor in Brazil program and University-sponsored missions trips.