Addison Bohannon: Do Something Challenging

Join us in The BreakLine Arena as we share tech industry insights, hear from industry titans, and celebrate the stories of our amazing alumni community. In this episode we have the opportunity to hear from BreakLine alum, Addison Bohannon.

A lifelong learner, Addison is no stranger to stretching himself in order to accomplish difficult tasks.

Originally from a small city in Wisconsin, the seeds of Addison’s insatiable curiosity were originally planted during childhood trips to the Saint Louis Science Center with his loving grandfather. 

Fascinated by the rotating science exhibits, Addison dreamt of one day becoming a paleontologist or astronomer before a conversation with his eighth grade English teacher led him to consider attending one of our nation’s Service Academies. 

Addison graduated in the top 5% of his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point with a degree in Mathematical Sciences and Physics before commissioning as an Infantry Officer. He then completed the rigorous United States Army Ranger School prior to deploying and leading an Airborne Infantry platoon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Upon completion of his military service, Addison’s curiosity and desire to solve complex problems led him to the U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, where he ultimately managed a multi-disciplinary team of 20+ scientists and engineers. In his role as Branch Chief, Addison oversaw research projects in computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, and multi-user AR/VR.

Keeping in theme with tackling tough tasks, Addison subsequently decided to pursue a Masters and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Scientific Computation from the University of Maryland. When asked about this period of his life, Addison shared, “Completing the Ph.D. program forced me to apply myself seriously, and with as much vigor and energy as I could at risk of failure.” 

Spoiler alert: Addison did not fail.

Dr. Bohannon now serves as a Senior Data Scientist at Gusto, where he leverages that same vigor and energy towards helping the rapidly growing company apply machine learning to their most difficult business challenges and opportunities. 

Addison was first introduced to Gusto during his BreakLine Education programming and was supported throughout his career transition by amazing champions like John Kempe, Dominic Gonzalez-Padron, and fellow BreakLine alum Ryan Kappedal. 

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