Professor Sheldon Jacobson is the winner of the 2013 Media Relations Award. Sheldon and his graduate students have taken on numerous projects showcasing how computer science and data analysis can be put to practical use in a way that the news media and general public understand. His work spans topics from forecasting election results and March Madness brackets to assessing airport security, cell phone bans and driving, vaccine distribution and more.
Sheldon and his graduate students have taken on numerous projects showcasing how computer science and data analysis can be put to practical use in a way that the news media and general public understand. His work spans topics from forecasting election results and March Madness brackets to assessing airport security, cell phone bans and driving, vaccine distribution and more.
Perhaps best known among those projects is the research he and his team have done on gasoline consumption in the U.S. and body weight. The first round of published research on the topic, not surprisingly, generated extraordinary interest on the part of the media, most of it serious, but some of it lighthearted. Professor Jacobson patiently answered all the calls and emails he received, at least one of which accused him of bias because – "you're probably thin." And he is! (Thin, that is – not biased.)
He has communicated his many areas of expertise through the News Bureau’s “A Minute With” feature, the most popular being his commentaries on the NCAA basketball tournament. His pre-tournament assessments have become an annual tradition anticipated by sports journalists, odds makers and college basketball fans across the nation.
Each of these projects has brought attention to Professor Jacobson's work, and each time he has gone out of his way to respond to inquiries from the news media, whether local, regional, state or national in reach. He is an articulate advocate for his work and his discipline, and with regard to the news media, is a faculty member who understands the importance of getting out our message about the work taking place on our campus. Sheldon’s nomination is especially meaningful, since it came from his department head, Rob Rutenbar who is no stranger to the media himself. Rob has spent the better part of almost the past year leading the campus effort on Coursera, and that has included handling a heavy load of media interviews with reporters of varying levels of knowledge about online education, much less MOOCs. Through it all, he has been patient, gracious and laser-focused on building the Illinois brand.
