Ellen Drascher and I were married in November 2003: Visit our nascent wedding web page
Until recently, I was a partner at Thinkbank, Inc. (now Bitway). I specialized in data analysis, optimization, software development, and technology assessment. I am now a software engineer in Search Quality at Google.

I received my Computer Science PhD in 1998 from UC Berkeley.
My dissertation is entitled
``Bayesian Problem-Solving Applied to Scheduling.''
Read the abstract!

You can also read:
   the 83-page tree-friendly single-spaced tech report version of 12/20/98.
or:
   the double-spaced official version filed with the university on 12/17/98.

The thesis tech report is also available via NCSRTL, the "Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library".

Previously, I was a founder of Heuristicrats Research, Inc. (HRI), where I had the pleasure of working with Wray Buntine, Jordan Hayes, Scott Roy, Cooper Vertz, and a dozen or so more Heuristicrats over the past few years.
Other bits of background: I attended Greens Farms Academy, Columbia, and UCLA.
You may have come to this page to find information on my first wife, Elly I-Chun Lin. I regret to report that she died in April 2002.
I'm an Icelandic-American, a minority still fighting for recognition. If you were hip to the Icelandic naming system, you'd know to just call me Othar, not Othar Hansson. Icelandic names are patronymics of infinite precision: you can also call me Othar Otharsson Hansson Gudmundsson Jonsson Teitsson Teitsson Jónsson Pálsson Þorlaksson ... Confused yet? Don't be.
Finally, here are some of my relatives on the web: I love visits from my relatives (visits to my homepage, that is). Email me if you should be added to this list.