Travis Oliphant

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Travis Oliphant
Born1971 (age 53–54)[1]
Salt Lake City, Utah[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationPhD in Biomedical Engineering, B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering
Alma materBrigham Young University
Occupation(s)Businessman, data scientist
Known forOpen-source software, NumPy, SciPy, Anaconda (Python distribution), Probabilistic programming, OpenTeams

Travis Oliphant is an American data scientist, software developer, and entrepreneur known for his contributions to the Python scientific computing ecosystem. He is the primary creator of Numpy, a foundational package for numerical computation in Python, and a founding contributor to SciPy[2]. Oliphant is also a co-founder[3] of NumFOCUS, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity in the United States that supports open-source scientific software.[4] He is also a founder of several technology companies, including Anaconda, Quansight, and OpenTeams.[5]

Early life and education

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Oliphant earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in mathematics and electrical engineering from Brigham Young University. He later completed a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Mayo Clinic, where his research focused on medical imaging and signal processing.[1][6]

Academic career

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From 2001 to 2007, Oliphant served as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Brigham Young University. During his tenure, he directed the Biomedical Imaging Lab, where his research centered on scanning impedance imaging and other computational imaging techniques.[7]

Contributions to open source

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NumPy and SciPy

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In 2005, Oliphant created NumPy, which unified earlier numerical libraries such as Numeric and numarray.[8] NumPy has since become a core component of the Python ecosystem, widely used in scientific computing, machine learning, and data science[9]. He also contributed to the development of SciPy[10], expanding Python's capabilities for applied mathematics, signal processing, and statistical analysis.

NumFOCUS

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In 2012, Oliphant co-founded NumFOCUS[11], a nonprofit that supports the open-source scientific computing community. He remains active on its advisory board[12]. In 2012, he co-founded Contimuum Analytics (renamed Anaconda Inc. in 2017[13]), where he served as CEO until 2017. The company developed the Anaconda distribution, a widely used platform for managing Python environments and data science tools.

Under Oliphant's leadership, Continuum Analytics raised $24 million in Series A funding in 2015 and received funding from DARPA to develop GPU-accelerated extensions to Python for high-performance computing.

Career

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Enthought and Anaconda

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From 2007 to 2011, Oliphant was president of Enthought, a scientific computing company. In 2012, he co-founded Continuum Analytics (renamed Anaconda Inc. in 2017[14]), where he served as CEO until 2017. The company developed the Anaconda distribution, a widely used platform for managing Python environments and data science tools.

Quansight and OpenTeams

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After departing Anaconda in 2017, Oliphant founded Quansight, a services and consulting firm focused on supporting open source technologies in enterprise settings.[15] In 2019, he launched OpenTeams, a platform aimed at helping companies build and manage open-source-based AI infrastructure. As of 2025, he serves as its president.[16]

In 2025, OpenTeams acquired the AI consulting division of Quansight, including its core engineering team. The two companies had operated as sister organizations since OpenTeams' inception. This acquisition was part of a strategic realignment: OpenTeams scaled its enterprise and government AI offerings, while Quansight restructured as a Public Benefit Corporation to focus on sustaining open-source communities. As part of the transition, former Quansight CTO Dharhas Pothina joined OpenTeams as its new CTO.[17]

Open Source AI Foundation

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In February 2025, Oliphant co-founded the Open Source AI Foundation (O-SAIF) alongside Brittany Kaiser, known for her role in the Cambridge Analytica case[18], and former Wyoming legislator Tyler Lindholm[19]. The organization advocates for open and auditable AI systems and aims to create public-interest infrastructure for AI development.

Publications

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  • Guide to NumPy (Trelgol Publishing, 2006): a comprehensive manual and reference guide for users of NumPy, widely used in academic and industry settings.[20]

Honors and recognition

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Oliphant has been recognized as a key contributor to the growth of the Python ecosystem in scientific computing. NumPy and SciPy are among the most cited tools in academic literature for data science and machine learning, and he has delivered keynote addresses at conferences such as SciPy and PyCon.[21]

He spoke at the Centaurs AI Summit, Davos 2025 Edition.[22]

Articles

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  • Travis E. Oliphant (2007). "Python for Scientific Computing". Computing in Science & Engineering. 9 (3): 10–20. doi:10.1109/MCSE.2007.58. ISSN 1521-9615. Wikidata Q62058750.
  • Pauli Virtanen; Ralf Gommers; Travis E. Oliphant; et al. (23 July 2019). "SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python" (PDF). Nature Methods. 17 (3): 261–272. arXiv:1907.10121. doi:10.1038/S41592-019-0686-2. ISSN 1548-7091. PMC 7056644. PMID 32015543. Wikidata Q84573952. (erratum)
  • Charles R Harris; K. Jarrod Millman; Stéfan J. van der Walt; et al. (16 September 2020). "Array programming with NumPy" (PDF). Nature. 585 (7825): 357–362. arXiv:2006.10256. doi:10.1038/S41586-020-2649-2. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 7759461. PMID 32939066. Wikidata Q99413970.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Liu, Hongze; Hawkins, Aaron R.; Schultz, Stephen M.; Oliphant, Travis E. (February 15, 2008). "Fast Nonlinear Image Reconstruction for Scanning Impedance Imaging". IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. 55 (3): 970–977. doi:10.1109/TBME.2007.905485. PMID 18334388. S2CID 39843759.
  2. ^ "PyData Austin 2019 - Travis E Oliphant". pydata.org. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  3. ^ "NumFOCUS History". NumFOCUS. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  4. ^ "People: The NumFOCUS Team". NumFOCUS. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  5. ^ Oliphant, Travis (2015). Guide to NumPy (2 ed.). CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1517300074.
  6. ^ "Travis Oliphant". The Org. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Travis E. Oliphant - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  8. ^ "NumPy - About Us". numpy.org. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  9. ^ "NumPy". numpy.org. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  10. ^ "PyData Austin 2019 - Travis E Oliphant". pydata.org. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  11. ^ "NumFOCUS History". NumFOCUS. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  12. ^ "People: The NumFOCUS Team". NumFOCUS. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  13. ^ "Anaconda | Continuum Analytics Officially Becomes Anaconda". Anaconda. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  14. ^ "Continuum Analytics Officially Becomes Anaconda". Anaconda. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  15. ^ "Home | Quansight Consulting". quansight.com. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  16. ^ Fumarel, Irina (2024-11-21). "About us | OpenTeams: Open SaaS AI Solutions | Own Your Future with Open Source". Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  17. ^ Profile Advisors (May 27, 2025). "OpenTeams Acquires Quansight's AI Consulting Division to Accelerate Open Source AI for Enterprise and Government". Business Wire. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  18. ^ "Targeted". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  19. ^ "Open Source AI Foundation's Team". Open Source AI Foundation. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  20. ^ "NumPy - Learn". numpy.org. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  21. ^ PyCon Colombia (2023-07-30). Travis Oliphant Keynote PyCon Colombia 2023. Retrieved 2025-06-04 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ "Agenda – The Centaurs AI Summit". Retrieved 2025-06-04.
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