Thomas Christie
Director, Engineering Hub at Renaissance Philanthropy
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolThomas Christie is a director-level engineering leader and researcher with 12 years of experience applying Bayesian modeling, machine learning, and information-theoretic lenses to education and human decision-making problems. He blends hands-on data science (Python, R, Stan, PyTorch/Keras) with product-facing engineering—building pipelines, automated test assembly, and early warning systems that shorten assessments and predict student risk. His work spans academia and industry, from a PhD in Cognitive Science at the University of Minnesota and lab research on cognitive effort to leadership roles scaling learning engineering at NWEA, Edmentum, and current director positions in learning engineering and philanthropy. Thomas is fluent at turning cognitive models into deployed solutions—he’s used genetic algorithms and Bayesian inference to reduce exam times and designed experiments implemented as interactive games. Based in Minneapolis–St. Paul, he uniquely combines signal-transmission perspectives on task engagement with practical pipeline and visualization skills (Airflow, Flask, D3) to make research operational.
12 years of coding experience
13 years of employment as a software developer
Master of Arts - MA, Liberal Arts, Master of Arts - MA, Liberal Arts at St. John's CollegeUniversity of Minnesota Twin CitiesBachelor of Arts - BA, Mathematics, International Relations (Double Major), summa cum laude, Bachelor of Arts - BA, Mathematics, International Relations (Double Major), summa cum laude at Hendrix College
Github Skills (119)
xgboost10
python10
deep-learning10
portable10
gradient10
search-engine10
data-science10
java10
pytorch10
machine-learning10
gradient-boosting9
jax9
scalable9
dataflow9
opensearch9
Programming languages (9)
Github contributions (5)
tom-christie/tom-christie.github.io
Feb 2014 - Jun 2014
Contributions:54 commits, 1 comment in 4 months
DigitalHarborFoundation/FlexEval
Mar 2024 - Mar 2025
Contributions:6 reviews, 41 PRs, 66 pushes in 1 year
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