Jeffrey Heer

Jeffrey Heer is a computer scientist specializing in information visualization and interactive data analysis. He is currently the Jerre D. Noe Endowed Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he leads the UW Interactive Data Lab. His research focuses on designing new interactive systems to help people better understand and communicate data. He has developed widely used visualization tools including Vega(-Lite), D3.js, and Mosaic, which are utilized globally by researchers, companies, and data enthusiasts. Formerly an Assistant Professor at Stanford University, he also co-founded Trifacta, a company dedicated to interactive data transformation tools. A prolific researcher, his work has received numerous international awards, including the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award and MIT Technology Review TR35.

• 2013–Present·University of Washington·Jerre D. Noe Endowed Professor
  • Leading the UW Interactive Data Lab, focusing on research in data visualization, data science, and human-computer interaction.
  • Developed the Vega and Vega-Lite visualization grammars.
• 2009–2013·Stanford University·Assistant Professor
  • Conducted research related to data visualization, collaborating with teams to develop the Protovis and D3.js systems.
• 2012–2022·Trifacta, Inc.·Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer
  • Focused on interactive tools for data cleaning and transformation; the company was later acquired by Alteryx.

• 2001–2009·University of California, Berkeley·PhD, MS, BS
  • Majored in Computer Science, advised by Maneesh Agrawala.
  • Developed the Prefuse and Flare visualization toolkits.