Gayle S. Bieler
Center for Data Science, RTI International

Educational Background
MA, Mathematics (Concentration in Statistics), Boston University
BA, Mathematics (Concentration in Statistics), Minor in Anthropology, Boston University

Gayle Bieler grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts, a small, rural town on the South Coast. She excelled in math in high school, so she asked her guidance counselor what she could do with applied math. Her counselor replied, “Statistics is going to be hot—you could work in the pharmaceutical industry!” Well, statistics would indeed become hot, she was right about that, but Bieler only stayed two years in the pharmaceutical industry.

She went to RTI International (then known as the Research Triangle Institute) in 1988, joined the Center for Research in Statistics, grew into their nonprofit mission of improving the human condition, and never looked back. She is now also dedicated to her team’s mission of “data science for social good” in RTI’s Center for Data Science.

During the first half of Bieler’s career, she was devoted to developing, teaching, and marketing SUDAAN, a homegrown software package for analysis of complex survey data. It was entrepreneurial and math-y—a great combination for Bieler. Then came her two children, Isabelle (21) and Jared (18), and she worked part time from home for 15+ years. Eventually, she became inspired by data science and the happenings in the Obama administration, took a risk, and started something new. Now, and for the past six years, Bieler’s cause has been building and leading a team of 24 data scientists at RTI as they solve important national problems, improve their local communities, and transform research. The Center for Data Science operates as a “center of excellence,” deploying data science into all of RTI’s research domains, from the social sciences to the lab sciences. To Bieler, people and social impact—in that order—are most important.

Bieler is grateful to the mentors she has had along the way, namely Arlene Ash at Boston University and Judy Lessler, Kerrie Boyle, Rick Williams, and Babubhai Shah at RTI International. She is also grateful to her parents, who always believed in her and, despite knowing nothing about her chosen field, were exemplars for the wide range of skills and interests that have led to her success.