Alumni Profile: Peter Beniaris, Policy Analytics Credential’24

“The whole thing about a career,” said Peter Beniaris, “is that you can become stagnant if you don't keep learning. I don’t believe it's ever too late to learn and grow—I definitely don't subscribe to the idea that you need to retire when you become 65.”

And Beniaris has certainly embraced being a lifelong learner. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1987, then his master’s degree in computer science from DePaul University in 2000. This past summer, Beniaris returned to the world of academia and completed The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Policy Analytics Credential (PAC).

As the Director of Solutions Architecture for the software company Red Hat, Beniaris said his background in computer science and systems management prepared him well. “However, I found myself wishing I could explore data and analysis because I just don't have those skills. I wanted to find a program where I could learn R and get back into statistics, and there I was, scanning the internet and looking all over the place, and I found the Policy Analytics Credential right in my backyard.”

The PAC involves instruction in programming and statistics and then pairs those skills with Live Data Exploration Workshops, which are opportunities for participants to apply their newly acquired skills.

“The workshops were great because you’d collaborate with fellow program participants in real time and we’d have great, in-depth conversations with the program facilitators about our proposed solutions. The program facilitators were really good at digging deep into how we got to a certain conclusion or why we pursued certain routes and really made us think about the scenarios and the outcomes of our decisions. Plus, the facilitators were always jumping from room to room to help us with technical issues so we could get past those hurdles to get to the policy element.”

Beniaris also appreciated that he could immediately apply the skills he learned in PAC to his job. "I had been asked to prepare graphs displaying annualized spend by account across our three main products against the average discounts applied and ran several analyses: by region, segment, and sales pod. I executed all analyses using the R and statistical skills I gained from the course."

While his PAC experience opened up new opportunities for Beniaris at Red Hat, he also sees the possibility of applying his new skills in R to what he calls a “retirement job” in the future.

“I think it’d be fun work for the Department of Labor or the Census Bureau, using my background in business and coding in R to work on public policy. Part of the appeal of lifelong learning for me is exploring technological advances to help people’s productivity in the things they're already doing. While I consider technological advancements potentially life changing, I still believe the most important resource in the world is human resources…which is why I believe people can benefit and grow through lifelong learning—being open to new skills and knowledge.”