Case Western Reserve University has received a $2.6 million gift that will help in its efforts to establish a program in data science this fall.

(Case Western Reserve University)

Robert Herbold

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Case Western Reserve University' s plan to launch an undergraduate major in data science this fall has received a major financial boost from an alumnus.

Robert Herbold, chief operating officer of Microsoft during its period of greatest growth, has committed $2.6 million to endow the Robert J. Herbold Professor of Informatics and Analytics at the Case School of Engineering.

“The ability to evaluate and apply data has always been an integral part of an organization’s success,” Herbold said in a CWRU news release. “But the unprecedented amount of information available today demands far more sophisticated approaches to analysis and execution. Case Western Reserve’s historic strengths give the university a unique advantage in preparing students to seize these emerging opportunities.”

Herbold gave a $2 million gift to CWRU in 2005 to endow posts for two associate professors in information systems at the Weatherhead School of Management.

Herbold earned a master’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in computer science from CWRU. He went on to hone his own expertise in assessing data during 26 years at Procter & Gamble, the last five as senior vice president of advertising and information services.

After arriving at Microsoft in 1994, Herbold worked quickly to standardize the company’s data and processes, an effort that dramatically increased the timeliness and availability of reliable, actionable information, the release said. During his seven-year tenure as Microsoft’s COO, the company’s revenue quadrupled, and its profits climbed seven-fold.

“Bob Herbold’s career testifies to the tremendous power that information has to improve performance and advance innovation,” CWRU President Barbara R. Snyder said. “This professorship will help us give future generations the skills required to excel in this new environment.”

The amount and availability of data are expanding so rapidly that McKinsey & Co. estimates that the nation faces a shortage of between 140,000 and 190,000 deep analytics workers—and 1.5 million managers with data expertise—within the next four years. McKinsey also estimates the U.S. could save $300 billion on health care alone with more effective use of data.

Even more important, it could help save lives. In 2012, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland Clinic and Explorys, a Cleveland-based health informatics company, collaborated to examine nearly 1 million patient records from a 13-year period.

The analysis, led by MetroHealth's Chief Informatics Officer and CWRU medical school professor David Kaelber, helped identify characteristics of patients most at risk for blood clots. The work validated the results of an earlier Norwegian study that took more than a dozen years to complete; with Explorys' technology, ‎the Cleveland work lasted about three months, with a sample size that was 40 times larger.

Big data carries applications for safety analysis of roads and bridges fitted with sensors, increased efficiency for shipping and retail companies and for manufacturing to become more efficient and responsive to people’s needs, the university said.

“The potential that exists today to enhance operations and outcomes is nearly limitless,” Herbold said. “Those who understand how data works and what it can yield will carry enormous advantage in the new economy.”