person

David Siegel

David Siegel is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is co-founder and co-chair of Two Sigma Investments, LP.

Inspired by movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, David was drawn to the nascent field of computer science at a young age, quickly developing a deep interest in programming. By the mid-1970s, at age 12, he was building memory and logic boards, and learning to program a supercomputer at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.  As a freshman in high school, he also taught a programming course to high school students at an NYU summer program.

This early interest in computers sparked a life-long passion for building intelligent computational systems, reflecting a lasting belief in technology’s potential to improve virtually every human endeavor.

After graduating from Princeton, David received a PhD in computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he conducted research at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. David went on to co-found Two Sigma, an algorithmic investment manager that applies cutting-edge technology to the data-rich world of finance.

David’s philanthropic efforts underscore his continuing belief in the power and promise of science and technology. Computational thinking, in David’s view, is a powerful way of approaching complex problems and represents a new kind of literacy-a vibrant mode of expression that becomes more relevant with every passing year.

As such, David currently sits on the board of several leading organizations at the intersection of technology and creativity, including the MIT Corporation, Cornell Tech, Carnegie Hall, the Scratch Foundation (which he co-founded), and Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.