Kalev Leetaru
Kalev Leetaru | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kalev Hannes Leetaru |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, academic scholar, senior fellow |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) |
Kalev Hannes Leetaru is an American entrepreneur specializing in internet technologies, an academic scholar, and a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security within the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science located in Washington, D.C.. Prior to his current role, he served as a Yahoo! Fellow in Residence at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, part of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Biography
Leetaru, son of Hannes and Marilyn Leetaru, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 1995 during middle school by co-founding a web-based company. At that time, he developed a web authoring tool amid an era dominated by direct HTML coding with minimal use of Javascript or CSS. In 2000, while pursuing undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he became affiliated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. His undergraduate thesis, which examined the history of the university, laid the groundwork for what became the University of Illinois Histories Project.
Following his graduation, Leetaru remained involved with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and took on positions within the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences as well as the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. In 2013, he was appointed a Yahoo! Fellow in Residence at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and subsequently earned an adjunct assistant professorship there in 2014.
His research interests center on big data analytics and network analysis aimed at generating predictive insights. This includes investigations into platforms such as Wikipedia and Twitter, alongside geopolitical phenomena.
Leetaru is notably recognized as a co-founder of the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT), developed jointly with Philip Schrodt, which he continues to oversee along with its foundational software.
Media coverage
Leetaru regularly contributes to Foreign Policy, where he applies GDELT data to interpret international political developments. His analysis on interconnections between Wikipedia articles, supported by Silicon Graphics International, was highlighted in The New York Times. Additionally, his expertise has been referenced in The Wall Street Journal concerning Twitter trends and featured in The Washington Post providing commentary on GDELT and matters related to foreign policy.