Princeton considers AI and data science-focused ‘evolution’ for ORFE department, specifics unclear

An ad-hoc faculty committee is considering changes to the Operations Research and Financial Engineering department. The future of ORFE remains largely uncertain, but the degree programs of current graduate students and undergraduate students through at least the Class of 2030 will not be affected.

Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Andrew Houck ’00 introduced the committee to SEAS faculty in a Thursday email. The committee, which was impaneled by Dean of the Faculty Gene Jarrett ’97, will deliberate on how research and teaching across the University can strengthen in the field of data and decision science (DDS), which refers to the mathematics behind artificial intelligence and data science. This multi-year process could “lead to an evolution” of the ORFE department, where DDS is already most present, Houck wrote. 

“There will be no changes to the department’s current course offerings, and you will be able to complete your degree as expected,” SEAS Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs Cecily Swanson wrote in an email to ORFE students on Thursday. 

When asked specifically about possible impacts on current graduate students and undergraduates in the classes of 2030 and 2031, University spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss wrote to The Daily Princetonian that “this process will not affect the degree program of current ORFE graduate students, current ORFE undergraduate majors, or members of the Class of 2030 who choose to declare an ORFE major next fall.” 

“Otherwise, we’ll let the memo speak for itself,” he added. Hotchkiss did not clarify any potential impacts on future students in the Class of 2031 or respond to questions regarding the members of the committee or its goals. 

“This planning process may lead to an evolution of our Operations Research and Financial Engineering department, where our presence in DDS is most prominent,” Houck wrote in his email to SEAS faculty. 

Four of the other Ivy League schools currently have programs or awardable Master’s degrees in DDS, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Cornell began awarding these degrees most recently, in 2021.

The committee will “consider throughout the academic year how Princeton can maintain and grow its strength” in DDS, according to Houck’s email. “This process will likely involve some change for our School and for the University at large, but will also enable more strategic investment,” Houck wrote. 

Some ORFE students and faculty viewed the focus on DDS favorably and said that the change was appropriate, given the growth of AI. 

“If anything, understanding the statistical and optimization foundations underneath AI systems becomes more valuable, not less, as those systems get more powerful and more embedded in high-stakes decisions,” ORFE major Victoria Spradlin ’28 wrote to the ‘Prince.’ 

“The senior Princeton administrators understand the importance of the core topics in the ORFE Department — optimization, statistics, and probability and stochastic processes, especially with the explosion of AI and machine learning with massive data,” ORFE professor John Mulvey wrote to the ‘Prince.’ 

Mulvey anticipates that the committee will focus on strengthening connections across disciplines and possibly expanding the size of the department’s faculty, given the current ratio of ORFE majors to ORFE faculty. 

Multiple ORFE faculty members said that they were not familiar with the makeup of the committee and the decision-making processes behind its creation. 

The formation of the ad hoc committee comes as Princeton expands its investment in AI-related research and teaching. Earlier this week, the University announced the establishment of a new academic unit focused on AI and data science research, Data and Intelligent Systems (DaIS), which absorbed five research units and resulted in a layoff over the summer. The New Jersey AI Hub, a collaboration between the University, the State of New Jersey, Microsoft, and CoreWeave, opened last year. 

“This change has the potential to be quite an exciting opportunity for Princeton,” Eric Xia, a postdoc in the ORFE department, wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “The evolution of ORFE could potentially provide a common departmental environment and intellectual home that lay the foundations for even greater advancements to come.”

Some students said that the changes could potentially help them better navigate a rapidly changing technological landscape. Jessica Choe ’27, another ORFE major, shared her optimism for how the changes might confront the uncertainties of AI. 

“We do live in an unprecedented time where we do not know where AI is leading us. While it’s quite scary to think that some of the things that I’ve been learning might go obsolete or deemed less useful in the future, I think it’s just right that ORFE should morph and react to how the world is evolving,” Choe wrote. 

Luke Jones ’29, another ORFE major, wrote that ORFE and its tangential disciplines “are crucial to AI and data science at large, which is what the department seems to have in mind when they talk about the program’s ‘evolution.’”

“AI has huge potential and is moving very quickly; that impact and pace make the department’s announcement feel somewhat natural and one that we ought to have anticipated,” Jones wrote.  

Students, including Choe and fellow ORFE major, Catherine Grygorenko ’27, hope that the changes do not affect the major too much. 

“I’m hoping that they don’t change it too much on a fundamental level and abandon the whole intellectual mission, but I’d be excited to see what is to come,” Choe wrote. “While we are not the only school that offers such curriculum (MIT, Columbia, and a handful of other colleges also have ORFE-equivalent for undergrads), most of ORFE classes at other schools are considered to be grad-level courses, I’ve heard, and are specifically for the Financial Engineering master’s program.” 

However, Grygorenko cast doubt on the necessity of the change. To her, the shift to focusing on DDS feels “redundant,” as the principles of ORFE and DDS already feel intertwined. 

“I wasn’t entirely sure why this needed to be an explicit statement or an explicit point to be focusing on. Because my understanding of ORFE is that it’s already ‘how do you combine systems, real-life systems, into mathematical formats so we can use some sort of data or mathematical tools or manipulations and algorithms in order to make conclusions,’” she noted.  

The University said that ORFE students will be provided resources to navigate through any potential changes. “Your departmental advisers stand ready to answer questions about your ORFE degree requirements, and I am very happy to help you with questions about your broader navigation of your B.S.E. degree.”

Beyond Hotchkiss’ brief statement, Houck, Swanson, Jarrett, and Provost Jennifer Rexford ’91 did not respond to requests for comment on the specifics of the ad-hoc committee and details on the future of the ORFE department. 

The “multiyear process is just beginning, and no decisions have been made,” according to Swanson’s email.

Luke Grippo is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from South Jersey, and typically covers the state of higher education, University affairs, and state politics. He can be reached at luke.grippo[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

Sena Chang is the associate News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading investigations. She is from Japan and South Korea, and she often covers local politics and student life. She can be reached at sena[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.