Biography
Chad Topaz (A.B. Harvard, Ph.D. Northwestern) is Professor of Complex Systems at Williams College, Adjunct Professor of Applied Mathematics (by courtesy) at the University of Colorado–Boulder, and co-founder of the Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (QSIDE), an independent nonprofit research-to-action organization working at the intersection of data science and social justice.
The author of more than 100 publications and pieces of public scholarship, Chad began his career using mathematics to understand problems in physics, chemistry, and biology. He now focuses on confronting inequity across the criminal legal system, education and academia, environment, arts and media, and democratic institutions. His work has been covered nationally and internationally in The Atlantic, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Mother Jones, Science, Smithsonian Magazine, Washington Post, and more.
Chad is passionate about scientific communication and public engagement, having delivered more than 200 invited talks at colleges, universities, scientific meetings, and public venues. His public-facing writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Daily News, Undark Magazine, Inside Higher Ed, and other venues. His book, Unlocking Justice: The Power of Data to Confront Inequity and Create Change, is forthcoming from Princeton University Press in May 2026.
His research honors include a New Directions Research Professorship at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (the first given to a liberal arts college faculty member), a Kavli Frontiers Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences, the Mary and Alfie Gray Award for Social Justice from the Association for Women in Mathematics, a Board of Trustees Award from Macalester College, an Equity and Diversity Visiting Fellowship from the University of Auckland, and the Outstanding Paper Award of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Chad's teaching career is underpinned by an intense interest in human learning, meticulous attention to learners' needs and challenges, and a steadfast belief that education is both an art and a science. He has won UCLA's Robert Sorgenfrey Distinguished Teaching Award in mathematics and Macalester College's Rossmann Excellence in Teaching Award. He has mentored more than 130 students in summer research, capstone, independent study, honors thesis, and research practicum experiences, with nearly 50% from underrepresented or excluded gender, racial, and ethnic groups.