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Department of Physics to Host Woods Lecture: Patrick Dudas '06

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Posted on Friday, March 20, 2015

Westminster College’s Department of Physics will host Patrick Dudas ’06 for the 29th annual Woods Memorial Lecture, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26 in Phillips Lecture Hall of the Hoyt Science Resources Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dudas, doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh with the Information Science Department specializing in visualizations, social media and data mining, will present “Visualizing Social Media: Shining Light on Dark Networks.”

He explains that “with the advent of electronic media, our words have been etched into digital footprints and exacerbated by the institution of social media. We are able to voice our opinions, thoughts, what we had for lunch, and our lives from almost any location in the world to any willing listener.”

During the discussion, Dudas will address how public thoughts are being collected and examined to advertise, inform, and predict social movements. In his research, he focuses on analyzing social media data in various parts of the world, specifically in people of interest, such as terrorists and criminals.  

Dudas, a 2006 Westminster graduate in physics with a minor in mathematics, earned a master’s degree in information science with a specialization in geoinformatics from the University of Pittsburgh. He is anticipating receiving his PhD in August 2015.

The Woods Memorial Lecture honors Dr. Robert M. Woods, professor of physics at Westminster College from 1947-1972.  It is made possible by a gift from the Woods family that has been supplemented over the years by gifts from friends and alumni.

Contact Dr. Craig Caylor at caylorcl@westminster.edu for more information.