Staff 🧑‍🏫

Instructor

Leif Sigerson

he/him/his

lsigerson@ucsd.edu

Hi there, I’m Leif. I’ve been a data scientist at Pinterest for the last 7 years, working to improve how we rank content to show you what you actually value. This is something I’m passionate about, feel free to ask me about it!

Before that, my career took quite a winding path:

• 2012 — finished my undergrad from UC Berkeley in Buddhist Studies (but I took programming/stats courses wherever I could!)
• 2012–2014 — taught English in China, and loved it!
• 2014–2018 — got my PhD in social psychology from Hong Kong University, studying how people build relationships online. I used Python to map out people’s social networks on Twitter.

I’m very excited to be your teacher! My career has been shaped by teachers and mentors who were passionate about helping others, especially in the domain of coding. I hope to “return the favor” with you all.

Some fun facts (feel free to ask more if you’re curious):

• I live in San Francisco with my Zimbabwean spouse and our two cats, who are both medical miracles.
• I’m a kidney donor. It was maybe the best thing I’ve ever done.

Staff

Praveen Sharma

he/him/his

p4sharma@ucsd.edu

Hi! I’m Praveen, and I’m a third-year data science and applied math major. In my free time, I enjoy playing ping pong, exploring new places to eat, and watching formula 1. This is my fifth time tutoring DSC 20, and I’m excited to work with y’all this quarter!