Biography
Dr. Balamuta is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on latent variable estimation with a specialization in restricted latent class models, which provide considerable insight in psychological and educational assessment. For his work, he has been awarded the 2022 Psychometric Society Dissertation Prize and was a co-recipient of the 2021 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement. He also has a strong interest in data science pedagogy and figuring out innovative ways to incorporate industry data science techniques in academic settings.
Education
Ph.D., Informatics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021
MSc., Statistics with a concentration in Analytics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2016
BSc., Statistics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2013
BSc., Mathematics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2013