New College student wins Fulbright award

SARASOTA -- A New College of Florida student has won a Fulbright award, the school announced Wednesday.

Bradley Baker, a senior mathematics and philosophy major, is New College's 82nd Fulbright award recipient. In the fall, he plans to attend the University of Hildesheim in Germany to continue his work in machine learning.

In addition, Baker has acted in several plays, performed improv comedy and was captain of the fencing team.

Baker grew up in a family that stressed science and the arts in Oveido. His father, an engineer with Siemens, introduced him to computers at a young age, while Brad also performed in leading roles in his elementary school's productions of "The King and I" and "The Music Man," according to

New College

The family moved to Germany for several years, where Baker became proficient in German, and traveled to Switzerland and Romania. They returned to the United States, where Baker attended high school, studying programming and German.

"Mathematics, for me, works as a way to conceptualize the world. Philosophy, on the other hand, analyzes, questions and criticizes the way we think. Philosophical questions underpin how we think about mathematics: what assumptions we make, how we think about the truth and how the sciences may interact with the world," Baker said in a statement.

Last summer, he worked at the Mind Research Network in New Mexico, where he developed an algorithm allowing analysis of data stored in separate facilities while still maintaining data subjects' privacy. At University of Hildesheim, he will be part of a team doing leading work in distributed matrix factorization, Baker's field of interest.

Baker expects to graduate from New College in May. After his Fulbright year, he plans graduate studies in machine learning and to possibly pursue a career in "big data" law and ethics.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the nation's premier international educational exchange program. It announces awards individually on a rolling basis. New College may announce more Fulbright recipients this spring.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "New College student wins Fulbright award ."