Jake Hofman

Jake Hofman is a Senior Principal Researcher and founding member of Microsoft Research New York City, where he works in the field of computational social science. His research applies computational and statistical methods to understand how people behave and interact—both with each other and with technology.

Driven by a lifelong love of teaching and learning, he also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at Columbia University and directs Microsoft’s Data Science Summer School, a program designed to promote diversity in computer science.

Prior to joining Microsoft, he was a Research Scientist in the Microeconomics and Social Systems group at Yahoo! Research. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Columbia University. His work has been published in journals such as Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard Business Review, and Management Science, and featured in outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and The Economist.