KENNESAW, Ga. | Feb 20, 2019

Jennifer Priestley to speak at conference on ‘Exploring Banking’s Next Horizon’

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has invited Jennifer Priestley, executive director of Kennesaw State’s Analytics and Data Science Institute, to speak during their 2019 Banking Outlook Conference, “Big Data, Big Money: Exploring Banking’s Next Horizon.”

As part of her talk on Feb. 28, Priestley will address members of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on the role of data in decision-making. She will discuss the role of alternative data to improve decision-making, how data has evolved, the impact of artificial intelligence and the importance of data privacy and ethics.

A key thought leader in the data analytics field, Priestley has authored dozens of journal articles, book chapters and blog posts on data mining, applied statistical analysis, binary classification, credit scoring and survey analysis. Priestley, also the associate dean of KSU’s Graduate College and a professor of statistics, joined Kennesaw State in 2004, where she architected the nation’s first Ph.D. in data science and founded the University’s Analytics and Data Science Institute in 2017.  

She is one of only two academic scholars, and the only representative from any Georgia higher education institution, invited to speak at the Federal Reserve Bank’s annual event. Louisiana State University’s Graduate School of Banking is one of the conference’s co-sponsors.

Priestley and Yiyun Zhou, a data science Ph.D. student, recently partnered with Porter Research and the Technology Association of Georgia to extract, compile and analyze data in preparing the association’s annual report, the 2019 State of the Industry: Technology in Georgia Report, which looks at the state of technology in Georgia and outlines key findings.

In addition, the Institute also has been tapped by many regional companies who need assistance in solving their critical data science problems and frequently look to KSU to improve their analytical talent pipeline.

– Tiffany Capuano

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 45,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.