BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.4//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Central Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Central Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Central Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Join us for an insightful panel discussion on careers in data\, where leaders and alumni across the Big Ten Academic Alliance share their experiences and insights into the world of data. This session will includ e a range of topics\, including career pathways\, skills and education\, a nd emerging trends. Whether you're a student\, a professional looking to t ransition into the data field\, or an experienced data practitioner\, this panel will provide valuable insights and practical advice to help you nav igate a career in data.\nPanelistsGabbi Tanner Kraus is an Application Adm inistrator at Purdue University in the Institutional Data Analytics + Asse ssment (IDA+A) office\, where she supports faculty activity reporting and contributes to ongoing efforts to improve data governance and system usabi lity. Gabbi serves as the technical lead for Purdue's implementation of El ements\, a platform used to capture and showcase faculty accomplishments. Her career began in institutional research as a student data assistant in Purdue College of Science\, where she worked on data analysis\, dashboard design\, and metadata management. Her education in both Applied Statistics and Mass Communications help her blend technical expertise with relations hip-building. She mentors student workers\, collaborates with vendors\, an d helps academic leaders make informed decisions through better data.Jill Blackman is Director of Data Journalism at Northwestern University's Medil l School of Journalism\, where she trains the next generation of journalis ts to think\, report\, and tell stories with data. Her work centers on usi ng data as both evidence and narrative—teaching students to uncover patter ns\, visualize complexity\, and communicate insight through interactive ma ps\, graphics\, and multimedia storytelling. A pioneer in digital and data -driven journalism\, Jill helped launch the Online News Association and le d groundbreaking interactive projects at the Chicago Tribune. At Medill\, she integrates reporting\, analytics\, and design thinking to prepare jour nalists for an industry where storytelling and data literacy are inseparab le.Michelle Appel is the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Resear ch\, Planning and Assessment (IRPA) and the Chief Data Officer at the Univ ersity of Maryland\, College Park\, where she started as a research analys t in 2002. She has applied her undergraduate and graduate education in the field of applied psychology to explore the impact of higher education\, p rimarily in the field of Institutional Research (IR). Over almost 30 years in the profession\, Michelle has held a variety of leadership positions w ithin regional and national IR professional associations\, including Presi dent of the Association of Institutional Research\, and has received disti nguished service awards at the state\, regional\, and national levels.Zac Lockwood is a senior data analyst with Ohio State's facilities department. He supports daily maintenance\, custodial\, and landscape operations for all of OSU's main campus academic properties. He started as a student-empl oyee for facilities while attending Ohio State for undergrad and parlayed that experience directly into gaining his current full-time position after graduation. Over time\, his role has evolved from basic data analysis int o more advanced methodology and now into data engineering and governance\, all within the same organization.Aaron Williams is a manager and data vis ualization specialist at Netflix\, where he leads a team focused on develo ping core business metrics and the visual analytics products used to under stand performance and guide strategy. He started his career as an investig ative data journalist\, using code and reporting to turn complex datasets into stories on politics\, public health\, and inequality for outlets such as The Washington Post and The Center for Investigative Reporting. That w ork sparked a deeper interest in the systems behind the stories\, leading him into analytics product development and internal data tools. At Netflix \, Aaron sits at the intersection of data visualization\, product strategy \, and data infrastructure\, building interactive dashboards\, exploration tools\, and automated reporting that scale across teams. He is especially interested in how governed metrics\, thoughtful design\, and emerging AI tools can make institutional data more trustworthy\, discoverable\, and us able for researchers\, analysts\, and decision-makers.Wednesday\, February 11\, 2026 — 1pm EST | 12pm CST | 10am PSTREGISTER HERE DTEND:20260211T190000Z DTSTAMP:20260814T191225Z DTSTART:20260211T180000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Careers in Data UID:RFCALITEM639223135456702994 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on careers in data\, where leaders and alumni across the Big Ten Academic Alliance share their experiences and insights into the world of data. This session will include a range of topics\, including career pathways\, skil ls and education\, and emerging trends. Whether you're a student\, a profe ssional looking to transition into the data field\, or an experienced data practitioner\, this panel will provide valuable insights and practical ad vice to help you navigate a career in data.

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Panelist s

Wednesday\, February 11\, 2026 — 1pm EST | 12pm CST | 10 am PST

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