Kirk Borne, Bellevue High Class of 1972, is a prominent figure in the fields of data science and analytics, known for being a top global influencer on social media, a former NASA data scientist, and an astrophysicist with a PhD from Caltech. He is an advocate for data literacy and a respected speaker on data science, machine learning, and AI topics. 

Bellevue Alumni Association - Alumni Spotlight:

Kirk Borne, Bellevue High Class of 1972

Q: What was your most memorable experience in high school?

A: Winning the Optimist Club awards as Top Student in Mathematics (1971 and 1972) and Top Student in Science (1972). Prior to those experiences, I never had such emphatic affirmation and reinforcement of the aptitudes and skills that ultimately carried my career choice in astrophysics beyond a dream to a living reality. Actually, the truly most memorable experience for me in those years happened outside of high school – my father (a career USAF officer) died of a heart attack on the day before graduation. As a consequence of that trauma, I did not attend my high school graduation and I never saw many of my high school friends again until our 20-year reunion, which was quite an emotional experience for me personally.

Q: Tell us about a teacher, coach, or staff member who significantly impacted you

A: I cannot single out one teacher, but every teacher impacted my academic success in numerous, unforgettable ways that had a lifelong impact on me. I credit my very fortunate success in college and graduate school to the work of those brilliant, dedicated instructors. Of course, the math and science faculty would be top of my list, but the English and French faculty were also among my favorites.

Q: What activities, clubs, or sports were you involved in during high school, and how did they influence your path after graduation?

A: I was not too involved in formal activities. Nevertheless, when the very first computer link to University of Nebraska at Omaha was installed in one of the BHS math faculty’s storerooms, several of us (with the encouragement of our math instructors) began to learn computer programming, which led to several of us being invited to a college-level computer science program at Creighton University in our senior year. That completely triggered and defined the ultimate trajectory of my life and career. I was also involved with a small group of amateur astronomy enthusiasts in school who brought me into the Omaha Astronomical Society for many amazing “star parties” and phenomenal learning experiences with other like-minded people (students and adults). That also contributed to my career path in very positive ways.

Q: What do you do for a living?

A: That’s a good question! I always loved astronomy, since receiving my first colorful astronomy picture book when I was 9 years old. That’s what I wanted to do – Astronomy! – to understand how all of this works and to be part of the development of that scientific field. I was trained as a scientist (specifically as a research astrophysicist), and everything that I have done in the 50+ years since graduating from BHS has been as a scientist. I spent nearly 35 years as an astronomer, including 20+ years in roles at NASA as research scientist, project scientist, and contract program manager, followed by 10+ years as tenured Professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science at George Mason University. For the past 15+ years my life has been entirely devoted to Data Science, Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence. I was an executive advisor in the Strategic Innovation Group of a major consulting firm for 6 years, which ultimately led me to going out entirely on my own. I now have my own freelance business, Data Leadership Group LLC, where I am an advisor to AI startups and I provide training, public speaking, social content creation, and many related services globally. And, by the way, I have been named as one of the top worldwide social influencers in data science, AI, and related disciplines consistently each year since 2013. As a result of that, I do a lot of influencer marketing for businesses, large and small, around the world. This is all part-time work right now, so my current goal is to retire 100% completely within the coming year. Hopefully!

Q: What has been your proudest achievement since leaving high school?

A: All of my career credentials would mean nothing without my beautiful wife, children, grandchildren, and our shared faith. My Christian faith has been #1 to me for as long as I can remember, and that has not changed. Bringing others to the faith through my story, my experiences, and a few miracles sprinkled here and there has been most important to me. Professionally, my proudest achievement is having been invited by 3 different US Presidents’ administrations for consultations, including an opportunity to represent the USA at the G7 Innovators’ Strategy Summit in Turin Italy in 2017. A close second proudest moment would have to be one of these: getting a PhD in astronomy from Caltech, being project scientist for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope data archive, being tenured Professor of Astrophysics at a university, or being the global keynote speaker at the Big Data China Summit in 2016.

Q: Tell us about your family.

A: I met my wife Colleen (originally from Rochester, NY) in astronomy class in 1973 at LSU in Baton Rouge, one year after graduating BHS. We were married in 1976 when I was a grad student at Caltech in Pasadena. We adopted twin daughters, Marie and Karen, several years later and we now have 4 grandchildren (2 granddaughters and 2 grandsons) who range in age from 6 to 12. We live in Maryland, around the Baltimore region. My wife was a Catholic school teacher for nearly 20 years and retired several years ago! One of my daughters is a Pediatric Nurse in the Emergency Department at a local hospital, and my other daughter is the quality control officer in her husband’s manufacturing, packaging, and medical products business.

Q: What advice would you give to current students in Bellevue who are trying to figure out their future paths?

A: Never stop learning. Lifelong learning will keep you relevant, excited, and on top of your game for as long as you live and work.

Kirk’s Favorites…..

Movie: Contact

Book: I’m sure that my favorite is among the hundreds of books in my home office. However, during my high school days, I was most inspired by the works of Thoreau, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Bible.

Song: The Seekers – “I'll Never Find Another You”

Food: Asian dishes (Indian, Japanese, Chinese)

Bellevue Restaurants or Businesses: I am too old to remember any of those :)

To learn more about Kirk, check out his website: http://kirkborne.net/