Announcements

Assistant Professor Ken-Chi Chang joins the Quantitative Social Science Program

Assistant Professor Keng-Chi Chang joined the Quantitative Social Science Program this academic year. He holds a BA from National Taiwan University, and an MS and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. 

"I use computational tools, including AI and large language models, to study how technology and media influence politics. My work explores censorship circumvention, online image-sharing behaviors, and the recommendation of short-form video content by algorithms. I'm fascinated by how our digital world is reshaping democracy and the possibilities—and risks—it creates for political and social life."

Read more in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences article. "School of Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Faculty."

QSS Steering Committee Member Brendan Nyhan named among the most highly cited researchers in the world

QSS Steering Committee Member Brendan Nyhan, the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor in the Department of Government, has been named to this year's Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate. Read more on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences website. 

QSS major Esmeralda Abreu Jerez awarded Rhodes Scholarship

Esmeralda Abreau Jerez '25, who majored in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) and Geography during her four years in Hanover, was recently chosen as a 2026 Rhodes Scholar!  QSS has existed since 2015, and Esmeralda is the first Rhodes Scholar to graduate from the program.  Congratulations to Esmeralda on this achievement!

The Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and one of the most prestigious academic awards in the world, will allow Esmeralda to begin fully funded postgraduate study at the University of Oxford in England in October 2026.  She plans to work toward a career as a social epidemiologist in high-impact policy organizations.

You can read the full Dartmouth news story about Esmeralda here, and Esmeralda's bio from the Rhodes Trust winners profiles list is as below.

Esmeralda Abreau Jerez, Bronx, graduated from Dartmouth College in 2025 with a B.A. in Geography and Quantitative Social Science. Esmeralda is currently working at Pfizer, where she focuses on research on patient outcomes and quality of life. Her senior honors thesis, which examined labor organizing among home health aides in New York City, received high honors. While at Dartmouth, she was an organizer and steward with the Student Worker's Collective and founded a women's health committee serving migrant farm workers in the Upper Valley. At Oxford, Esmeralda proposes to complete an M.Sc. in Global Health Sciences and Epidemiology and an M.Sc. in Health Service Improvement and Evaluation.

QSS professor's journey from student to faculty

Dartmouth Admissions recently made a video of Prof. Chang describing his academic journey from student to faculty. 

Herbert Chang `18 is one of three faculty members in the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS).  Prof. Chang is also a Dartmouth undergraduate, who majored in QSS, Mathematics, and Creative Writing.

Prof. Chang completed his doctorate at the University of Southern California; his undergraduate thesis advisor, Professor Feng Fu, is the Department of Mathematics and serves on the QSS Steering Committee. 

QSS Steering Committee member named fellow of the Society of Labor Economists

Professor Claudia Olivetti, the George J. Records 1956 Professor of Economics, was recently named a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists. Professor Olivetti is a member of the Steering Committee of the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) and has taught at Dartmouth since 2019.  Her current research examines the gendered effects of structural transformation and the medium- and long-term impacts of federally sponsored childcare and after-school programs on the World War II home front.  Membership in the Society of Labor Economists "recognizes labor economists who have made contributions of unusual distinction to the field."