Department of Economics

Shan Alpay

  • Graduated: 1993
  • Field: Technology

Shan Alpay(opens in new window), who graduated with a BA in Economics in 1993, is the lead senior software developer and line manager at Gilead Sciences(opens in new window) headquarters in Foster City, California. He talks with the scientists at Gilead to determine their requirements for new computer programs and he utilizes many different computer program languages to write and develop the programs. Shan has worked in several different industries including biotechnology, mass storage, high-performance computing and electronic media during the past 20 years.

Shan began working for Gilead Sciences in 2011-12 as a contractor in Clinical Virology when he helped develop a web database application that allowed Gilead’s scientists to study amino acids, detect mutations in their research, and generate FDA reports.

“My economics degree did serve as a good basis for my computer science career,” Shan stated in an email (1/17/15). “Some who chose computer science as a career learn computing skills on the job or on their own. Economics stresses evaluation of costs and benefits to determine the optimal outcome, a skill that is useful in many careers.”  (Last Updated 3/5/19)

Portrait of Shan Alpay