Business

UChicago’s Department of Philosophy is a very special place – its courses and staff taught me how to engage with complex arguments and articulate essential human problems. I double majored in philosophy and computer science, and always wished more of my peers pursued a similar educational path; both disciplines are rooted in logic, yet inform each other in crucial ways. Now, as a software engineer, the need for philosophically educated individuals is even more apparent to me. As the technology field experiences rapid advances in AI that pose existential changes to all engineers and businesses, few individuals around me are able to recognize the ethical and technological nuances of AI. My philosophy education at UChicago equipped me to be a leader in the technology space, both by strengthening my logical foundation and giving me practice debating humanity’s most pressing questions. 

In my philosophy seminars at UChicago, we tried answering big questions like “What is art?” Now, at NERA Economic Consulting, the questions I answer are more akin to “What will happen if firms X and Y merge?” but the underlying philosophical thinking is the same. As an economic consultant, I perform analyses to answer complex economic questions and help inform decision-making. This translates to a lot of data work in Python, and the mental structure and logic I developed as a philosophy major help me write good code. Additionally, we work closely with law firms, so the communication skills I improved with philosophy help me translate numbers into clear takeaways that the lawyers can use in their arguments. Similar to dissecting arguments and writing philosophy papers evaluating their validity in college, at NERA I have read opposing expert reports, sifted through depositions and textbooks in search for evidence, and helped draft rebuttal reports to prove conclusions. These are only a few examples of how a major (or double major) in Philosophy at UChicago can make anyone better at their job.

I work at Epic, a health IT company (you may be familiar with them as the company that makes MyChart). While I started out primarily testing software, I now do much more logistics, planning and project management work. In all of these, you need to understand the whole, the pieces, and how the pieces fit to make the whole. That lets you find issues well and efficiently, make sure people are working on the right things at the right time, and bring order and clarity to unknowns. Understanding the whole and the relation of parts is something that the philosophy program certainly helps with. Philosophy also helped strengthen the communication skills I need to ask questions and document my assumptions or thought process, especially when working in technical areas which I am not particularly familiar with. If I may give a word of advice, don't underestimate your skills and what you can learn. Doing something that's not school for the first time can be intimidating, but I've learned a lot and done things I wouldn't even have thought of when I started at Epic. 

Studying philosophy at the University of Chicago has been an important part of my business career both explicitly and implicitly. As a strategy consultant and later as a business analyst at Groupon, courses such as Logic gave me an early edge when solving the complex types of "if-then" problems faced within data science. The ability to succinctly communicate your perspective and arguments is critical for professionals and is a skill I refined as a philosophy student. Perhaps most importantly, studying philosophy trains you to constantly seek out the underlying motivations and perspectives of both yourself and others—this ability is critical to one's success and fulfillment in any career, business-focused or otherwise.

Studying philosophy at UChicago gave me the flexibility to pursue a cross-disciplinary education, spanning epistemology, economics, and computer science. That flexibility was essential in giving me a broad base of skills and perspectives to start my professional life. Also, it surrounded me with deeply thoughtful humans that gave me a richer perspective on what makes for a successful, meaningful life.

​​​As a business strategy consultant, it is my job to help clients think analytically about their company's challenges. Too often, these challenges are caused by what could broadly be considered philosophical problems—unchallenged assumptions, ambiguous definitions, and vague frameworks of thought. My philosophical education at UChicago not only taught me how to identify these issues, but how to use rigorous logic and convincing argumentation to solve them.

Two of the most important skills in machine learning research are: (i) how to formulate an interesting question and (ii) how to construct an argument. My undergraduate studies in philosophy were critical to my development of these skills. My philosophy papers were rarely based on simple and obvious “yes” or “no” questions. Often, the main challenge was figuring out what kind of interesting point or question I could make about some philosophical argument. Today, the content of my work is machine learning, but the exercise is very similar. There are infinitely many machine learning questions, but finding one that meets strict standards of wide applicability, mathematical novelty, and algorithmic elegance is quite challenging. Furthermore, once I found an interesting philosophical question in my philosophy papers, the next task was to formulate an airtight argument. In machine learning, it is similarly critical to assess how useful or novel your work is, whether there are any shortcomings, and how difficult the problem is. All of this amounts to building an argument, considering counterarguments, and formulating rebuttals—all of which are skills that I honed as an undergraduate in philosophy. (Previously a Fellow at the Eric & Wendy Schmidt Data Science for Social Good Fellowship)

Studying philosophy has given me a first-rate foundation to be a lifelong learner. In a world of constantly evolving technologies and systems, the ability to learn and re-learn is crucial. Philosophy has taught me to break problems down into fundamentals and to be courageous in exploring new ideas and opportunities.

Philosophy studies at UChicago gave me a strong foundation in logic, which helps me feel comfortable with computer programming languages and systems and their similarly logical rules. I learned the value of not just theory but its evolution, which helps me today when considering technical systems--the decision needed now should be informed by the original intention of the program, adjustments made over time, and how it would be most useful in the future. This orientation, along with the training that UChicago provided in rigorous critical analysis, help me bring value when planning and maintaining technology systems and working with a team to discuss and solve problems.

​​​​​The culinary world invites philosophical thought in every aspect of the industry. Political philosophy informs hiring decisions such as who has the right to work. Ecological thought guides the sourcing of ingredients. What balance of hedonism and ascetism will govern what we serve? What degree of responsibility does the culinary professional have for the dietary health of the client? Aesthetics, social theory, and ethics make daily appearances. The discipline and experience of thinking philosophically is invaluable in navigating the industry. For the philosophically inclined the professional kitchen can be an intense laboratory for putting theory into practice. Certainly, the study of philosophy is no requirement for entry into the culinary world, but it has helped guide my approach and provided context, focus, and meaning to my work.

Update in 2026: We've expanded the urbanCHEF footprint, adding a third kitchen and a second dining room and we continue to offer cooking classes and large cooking parties. More recently, my husband and I purchased a large medieval home in the mountains of central France, which we are developing into a small retreat experience that builds on my background in hospitality and food-centered gathering. In addition to many new fronts in the philosophy around hospitality and life, this experience brings up a lot to consider about emigration, international economic impacts in a small town and more.