Lauren Ancel Meyers A.B. ’95, Ph.D.

2022 Candidate for Harvard Overseer: Lauren Ancel Meyers

I am a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where I lead a large research team at the forefront of modeling COVID-19 and other global outbreaks. Throughout my career, I have designed computational methods for detecting and forecasting deadly viruses and helped policymakers, global health agencies, and healthcare systems combat threats like the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the emergence of Zika in the Americas, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an educator, I strive to equip my students with the tools and perspectives needed to tackle complex problems spanning healthcare, science, and society. As a campus leader, I have worked to propel undergraduate education and data science forward. I built UT’s new Department of Statistics & Data Science from scratch—including hiring its first eight faculty, creating a Ph.D. program, developing dozens of courses, and serving as its first chair. I also directed an NIH-funded training program in Big Data for Biomedicine, served on the executive committee of UT’s faculty council, as the faculty representative on UT’s Budget Council, and chaired two major strategic planning initiatives commissioned by UT’s President.

My roots lie in the Milwaukee and Chicago area, but I grew up all over the country! Before landing at Harvard in 1991, I moved nine times and attended eight public schools, including stints in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma, and California.

When I graduated from Harvard in 1995, pandemic modeling wasn’t yet “a thing”. But I left fully prepared to be a pioneer. Harvard allowed me to pursue my lifelong love of math while discovering new passions for writing, philosophy, and biology. It introduced me to brilliant and compassionate peers who inspired me every day. It posed steep intellectual challenges that emboldened me to take risks.

On the personal front, I met my husband Steve while working as a river rafting guide on Oregon’s Rogue River during the summer of ‘94. Our three fabulous kids, all born and raised in Texas, are in 6th, 9th and 12th grades. Between the chaos of work and school, we all love to cook, eat, laugh and hike.

In closing, I would love to support Harvard in leading transformational change in higher education and healthcare. I would draw on my professional experiences—both fighting a global pandemic and making change at a flagship university—to help Harvard nurture interdisciplinary programs that tackle grand challenges and advance a holistic, cradle-to-grave paradigm for health and wellness that incorporates societal and environmental dimensions.

Lauren Ancel Meyers

A.B. ’95 magna cum laude
Ph.D. ’00, Stanford University
Austin, TX