Fernando Pérez is an Associate Professor in Statistics at UC Berkeley and Faculty Scientist at LBNL. He builds open source tools for humans to use computers as companions in thinking and collaboration, in the scientific Python ecosystem (IPython, Jupyter & friends). A computational physicist by training, his research today focuses on creating tools and infrastructure for open, reproducible research and scientific uses of AI for problems in earth and the environment, as well as health care.

He directs the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS), and co-directs the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Data Science & Environment Center (DSE). He co-founded 2i2c and NumFOCUS, non-profit organizations focused on open source for research and education, and AIMATX, a company that builds tools for AI-driven design of novel materials. He is a recipient of the 2024 NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, the 2024 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Champions of Open Science recognition, the 2017 ACM Software System Award and the 2012 FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software. He is a Kavli Frontiers Fellow of the US National Academy of Sciences (2016).