Yaneer Bar-Yam has the mind of a world-renowned physicist and mathematician with the ethos of a humanitarian. Yaneer has pioneered the field of complex systems, studying the interconnectedness of how our world works. As the founder of the New England Complex Systems Institute, he gets to the bottom of some of the world’s most complicated problems using unique mathematical modeling to identify the most effective strategies for the best outcomes.

His father, Zvi Bar-Yam, was born in Kraków, Poland, where he lived through the tragedy of the Holocaust chronicled in the book, “Schindler’s List.” Zvi emigrated to Israel, where he met Yaneer’s late mother, Miriam. Yaneer is married to Naomi, and they have four children.