Daniel Kim '11 - MSS Major

As a MSS student at Dartmouth, I first gained exposure to academic research during my sophomore year at Dartmouth, where I became fascinated with the inter-disciplinary application of quantitative methods. I loved the MSS program because it provided not only robust training with quantitative methods to examine real-world issues with data, but also the curiosity and freedom to explore the universe of unanswered empirical questions. For example, in a collaborative effort with Professor Levine (MSS) and Professor Bruce Duncan (German Studies Department), we used our social networks model to estimate the authorship of a German novel.  Professor Levine helped me see the power of cross-pollination between seemingly unrelated fields: As opposed to individuals or organizations, function words became the inter-connected nodes that defined a large network of dyadic ties. This project successfully turned into an academic publication that resolved a long-disputed question of authorship in German literature.

This experience ultimately led me to pursue a PhD at MIT where I studied the economics of entrepreneurship and innovation. Currently, I am a professor at the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania where I research and teach entrepreneurship. I am deeply for the MSS program and Prof. Levine for helping me find my passion in my early career.