David Bader

Also known as David A. Bader

David Bader is a high-performance computing researcher whose work connects matrix-based graph algorithms, AI system hardware/software co-design, and hybrid physics-ML climate emulation. After earning engineering degrees at Lehigh University and a doctorate at the University of Maryland in 1996, he built a Linux supercomputer from consumer off-the-shelf parts at the University of New Mexico in 1998. At Georgia Tech from 2005 to 2019, he directed the first Center of Competence for the Cell Processor, chaired the School of Computational Science and Engineering, and coauthored a 2015 paper on the GraphBLAS standard. He received the IEEE Computer Society's Sidney Fernbach Award in 2021, coauthored the ClimSim dataset that won a 2023 NeurIPS Outstanding Paper Award, and won NJIT's Excellence in Research Award in 2026. At the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he is a Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean for Research in the Ying Wu College of Computing, founder of the Department of Data Science, and inaugural director of the Institute for Data Science.

Now at: New Jersey Institute of Technology
Born: 1969

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

1990–1998

Three degrees and a Linux supercomputer

He earns a B.S. in computer engineering in 1990 and an M.S. in electrical engineering in 1991 from Lehigh University. At the University of Maryland, College Park, he receives a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Fellowship from Gerald Soffen in 1992 and completes a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1996. In 1998, he becomes an assistant professor and Regents' Lecturer at the University of New Mexico, where he builds a Linux supercomputer for high-performance computing using consumer off-the-shelf parts and a high-speed low-latency interconnection network.
2005–2008

Georgia Tech faculty and Cell center

In 2005, he joins Georgia Tech's College of Computing, where he becomes a full professor in 2008. Sony, Toshiba and IBM select him in November 2006 to direct the first Center of Competence for the Cell Processor.
2014–2019

School chair and the GraphBLAS standard

Bader chairs Georgia Tech's School of Computational Science and Engineering from July 2014 until he leaves in 2019. In 2015, he coauthors "Graphs, Matrices, and the GraphBLAS: Seven Good Reasons", a paper on matrix-based graph algorithms and the GraphBLAS standard.
2019

Directing data science at NJIT

In July 2019, he joins the New Jersey Institute of Technology as a Distinguished Professor in the Ying Wu College of Computing and becomes the first director of its Institute for Data Science. A 2019 Facebook research award supports his work on artificial intelligence system hardware/software co-design and scalable graph-learning algorithms.
2021–2022

Sidney Fernbach Award and Maryland hall

The IEEE Computer Society presents him with its Sidney Fernbach Award and Meritorious Service Award in 2021, and the National Academy of Inventors names him an Honorary Member in 2021. In 2022, the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering inducts him into its Innovation Hall of Fame.
2023

ClimSim wins a NeurIPS paper award

At NeurIPS 2023, he shares an Outstanding Paper Award as a coauthor of "ClimSim: A large multi-scale dataset for hybrid physics-ML climate emulation".
2025

The Mimms Museum Hall of Fame

In 2025, the Mimms Museum of Technology and Art inducts him into its Hall of Fame for his late-1990s supercomputer design combining off-the-shelf CPUs, high-performance networking, and Linux. He also receives the 2025 Heatherington Award for Technological Innovation.
2026

Associate dean and research award

In 2026, he wins NJIT's Excellence in Research Award and joins the IEEE Computer Society's Class of Distinguished Contributors. At NJIT, he is a Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean for Research in the Ying Wu College of Computing, founder of the Department of Data Science, and inaugural director of the Institute for Data Science.