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Alumni Feature: Tadd Wood

UNO graduate Tadd Wood

Tadd Wood, 2010 UNO graduate

Meet Tadd Wood, a 2010 UNO graduate from the College of Business Administration. Tadd is the co-founder and chief data scientist for Contemporary Analysis (CAN), a start-up that helps companies sort through its data and fix its problems.

As a data scientist at CAN, Tadd consults with Fortune 500 companies, as well as smaller companies, about how to use predictive analytics to find patterns in its data. He uses these patterns to explore and predict what will likely happen next in its business.

“Starting out, the term ‘econometrics’ was about the closest thing to what we were trying to do,” says Tadd. “ Predictive analytics didn’t become a buzzword for three more years.”

Tadd’s daily routine is not very predictable. Some days he’s meeting with clients and building relationships. Other days he’s developing solutions to problems that are completely new to him.

How did UNO help him achieve his goals?

“When we (Wood and UNO alumnus Grant Stanley) were starting out, we were lucky enough to have professors to bounce ideas off of as well as give us insight based on their career experiences,” says Tadd.

One thing Tadd would’ve done differently while at UNO?

“I would have taken some classes on the computer science side. I had a pretty good math and statistics foundation when we started, but not having a programming background didn’t allow me to scale my solutions until I was able to teach myself."

Fun Facts about Tadd

  • Favorite study spot: The library (it’s quiet but also social enough to see familiar faces)

  • Favorite professors at UNO: Dr. Mitenko in the Finance department; Dr. Baum and Dr. Diamond in the Economics department

  • Favorite free-time activity: exercising and traveling

About the UNO College of Business Administration

Grounded in a strong academic tradition, we’re also a business school that believes in collaboration with the community. Our students benefit from opportunities to flex their skills and knowledge well before they graduate and to find out firsthand about the business world beyond the classroom.

About the UNO Alumni Association

The UNO Alumni Association is an independent, nonprofit corporation dedicated to serving the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its alumni. It was founded June 6, 1913, by the Class of 1913.

Every UNO student automatically becomes a member of the UNO Alumni Association upon graduating from the university. There are no dues to join. Since its founding in 1908 the university has graduated nearly 108,000 alumni. More than 99,000 of these are still alive.