Dr. Kenneth Steif, aka DJ Kennyraw – beloved son, father, husband, friend, music aficionado, data nerd and academic pioneer, business founder and author, passed away on September 3, 2021, after a long battle with cancer unwaveringly fought with positivity, honesty, determination, and love.

Ken was born September 6, 1982, in Queens, NY, to Paul Steif and Caroline Werth.  Early on the Steif family moved to New Haven, Connecticut where his mother ran the historic Shubert Theatre.  Through the theater and its community Ken found his love of music and the arts.  He had fond childhood memories of growing up with his younger brother Dan in the town he considered his first home. After graduating high school, he moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University where he developed his lifelong passion for Geography and Urban Studies. He went on to receive a Masters Degree in Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA) in 2008, and earned a PhD in City and Regional Planning in 2015, both from the University of Pennsylvania. 

While still working towards his PhD, Ken founded Urban Spatial Analytics LLC, a consultancy at the intersection of data science and public policy. He was at the forefront of data-driven public policy for nearly 20 years, combining his technical knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and applied statistics with an interest in housing policy, child welfare, education, the economics of neighborhood change, transportation policy and more.

Ken returned to lead MUSA, shifting the program’s emphasis from GIS to civic technology and elevating its reputation into one of the top data science programs in the country. Ken’s vision was for the mastery of data to empower development of technology and governance solutions capable of tackling today’s most complex and pressing public policy problems. This summer saw the publication of his groundbreaking book, Public Policy Analytics: Code & Context for Data Science in Government. As Allison Lassiter, Ken’s colleague in the Department of City and Regional Planning, says, “There is no better guide to data science in the public realm!”

His city, his family, and his work were at the heart of this accomplished man. Ken put all of himself into everything he cared about, from making music to camping. But nowhere was that devotion more clear than his dedication and love for his family. He and his beloved wife Diana and their young sons Emil and Malcolm were his pride and joy.  The Steif family has the love and support of a wonderful community of close friends in West Philadelphia, where Ken is buried at the Woodlands Cemetery, close to the garden plot that Diana and their boys often tend together.

Ken is survived by his wife Diana and two sons Emil and Malcolm Steif as well as his mother Caroline Werth, father, Paul Steif and brother, Dan Steif and family.

He will be deeply missed.