Our featured alumnus in this issue of IMPACT is Dr. Andy Reagan, who now works with the Data Science Team at MassMutual. Dr. Reagan received both his master’s and doctoral degrees at UVM and, while at UVM, was strongly affiliated with the Complex Systems faculty and the Computational Story Lab.

IMPACT: Andy, you’re a graduate of the UVM Graduate College, earning your master’s and doctoral degrees here. But leading up to that, where did you do your undergraduate studies and what were some of the highlights?

ANDY: I spent my undergraduate years exploring the hills and back roads of Blacksburg, Virginia, while pursuing engineering and math degrees at Virginia Tech.

I wasn't sure when I started school what one could do with a mathematics degree, though I eventually learned the possibilities were nearly endless. I graduated a semester early with just the math degree so I could skip up to Vermont.

One class that really stands out is my Real Analysis class, specifically the senior-level undergraduate course that I took. We learned from Rudin's textbook, and the mathematical rigor was just invigorating (and I can claim a very proud A-).

During my time there, I was very lucky to have had many fantastic experiences — some highlights are falling in love with the outdoors on the triathlon and cycling teams (spending nearly every weekend traveling to race road bikes, mountain bikes, or run), taking part in research as an undergraduate with professor Reinhard Laubenbacher in the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, and having the opportunity to ride my bike cross-country with Bike and Build.

Apparently, I didn't have time to learn about run-on sentences.

IMPACT: That sounds like a very enriching undergraduate experience. Tell us about your graduate program at UVM, and some of the faculty that were influential to you.

ANDY: I came to study applied mathematics, taking many fantastic courses along the way through the Master’s and PhD programs, and eventually began to see and study the world through the lens of Complex Systems.

Again, I was very fortunate, having the mentorship of Professors Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth, as well as their leadership as part of the Computational Story Lab. We have been able to continue our partnership through the collaboration between MassMutual, where I now work, and the Complex Systems Center.

IMPACT: The university is very appreciative of the collaboration with MassMutual. What was the focus of your doctoral dissertation?

ANDY: My dissertation begins with the audacious title "Towards a science of human stories" and is a collection of the research that we conducted focused on, well, stories. In short, we began with our tool that measures the happiness of language, the Hedonometer, and undertook a thorough analysis of the performance of tool and others on various forms of media. We then took the Hedonometer, and used it as a lens through which we could study stories. To that end, we found that many stories share a handful of common shapes.

IMPACT: The amount of local and national press that the Hedonometer has garnered is impressive. After graduation, what were your next steps?

ANDY: I rushed to Amherst, Massachusetts, to join the burgeoning Data Science team at MassMutual, joining UVM alum Adam Fox. We employ data along with statistical models to drive decision making in the insurance industry, and it's been very exciting to be part of the team driving these changes in insurance. Just last week, we released the MyLifeScore360 tool that allows anyone to understand how risk assessments are made from answering a few questions about themselves.

IMPACT: What would you tell someone interested in studying at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) — Complex Systems or Big Data in particular?

ANDY: Complex Systems is all about studying interesting phenomena in the world: from the systems you interact with every day — for example, the power grid — to the abstract, such as connections in the human brain.

As anyone who has been through graduate school will tell you, it's all about the people you get to work with. UVM is home to world-class researchers, who, importantly, are also nice people, and that combination is hard to beat! Also, there's the mascots [see the Complex Systems website].

IMPACT: Andy, tell our readers of any interests you have outside academia and MassMutual.

ANDY: I am a proud husband and father to one, soon to be two little boys. To keep myself even busier, I bike to work and try to run every day. I'm currently closing in on a three-year streak. Two weeks to go!

IMPACT: Andy, thanks for your time and for sharing your grad school experiences at UVM. We wish you the best of luck with your career and family!