1% Inspiration

8. Benjamin Levy - From Science and Philosophy to Data Scientist

Episode Summary

Ben's biggest rule for education has been to “hack your degree” - taking the time to think thoughtfully and systematically about how he spent his years of undergraduate education. This began from when he chose his undergraduate program in life sciences at Victoria College, to his consistent involvement with the Hart House Debate Team, which he connects deeply to data science as both mediums of persuasion. TEDxUofT is a big part of our talk - and he had many TED talk recommendations for us. When Ben experienced a turning point learning data science and statistics through computational application at Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, he positioned himself for a career in data science while using his existing humanities, social sciences, and sciences background as a strength. We speak about his continued self-initiating tendencies while at Harvard, publishing articles, and engaging in scientific communication independently.

Episode Notes

About Benjamin Levy (Bachelor of Science 2019 at University of Toronto, MS in Data Science at Harvard University)

Benjamin Levy or Ben Levy graduated from University of Toronto in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science, double majoring in Global Health, and Statistics, while minoring in philosophy. He recently completed his Master of Science in Data Science at Harvard University in Boston, worked at Facebook in Data Science and is currently a Data Science Fellow at QuantumBlack, which is a part of McKinsey and Company.

Ben has contributed significantly to the U of T and Toronto community. He’s conducted research at SickKids Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital and the Department of Political Science at U of T. He’s an avid debater, former president of the Hart House Debating Club, and coached the University of Toronto Schools Debate Team. He also organized TedxUofT for a couple of years.

Notable Quotes

• "Don't be afraid of taking a very unorthodox path to get to where you want to go.”- Ben Levy
• “If you have the opportunity to create a learning occasion that is tailored to you, you should totally go for it.” - Ben Levy
• “Being on a path that allow you to continue to learn … but at no point if i will be or have been successful aside from being on such a path.” - Ben Levy

Resources

• Ben’s Personal Website
• The Evolving Ecosystem of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Applications
• In Data We Trust
• Hart House Debate and Dialogue
• Engineers without Borders: UofT Chapter
• TEDxUofT
• Professor Ludovic Rheault, Department of Political Science
• Harvard Master’s in Data Science Program
• Mckinsey - QuantumBlack

TED(UofT) Talks Ben Worked on

• Matt Russo: What does the universe sound like?
• We need human data, not just big data | Fanny Chevalier | TEDxUofT
• Julia Espinosa: The secret life of dogs (The Canine Cognition Lab)

Favourite TED Talks

• Hans Rosling - the best stats you’ve ever seen
• Stephen Webb - Where are all the aliens
• Susan Cain - The power of introverts 
• Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? 
• Andrew Solomon - Love, no matter what

How to get in touch with Ben

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjslevy/

Submit to our Suggestion Box if you have a great potential guest idea or some feedback!

This podcast is generously supported by the Hart House Good Ideas Fund.

Music By : Zen Man