Daniel Kane graduated from the mathematics department at Harvard in 2011; his advisor was Barry Mazur. His thesis work covered a number of topics mostly in the areas of theoretical computer science and analytic number theory. Although his interests are diverse, his recent work on computer science has tended to focus on polynomial threshold functions and derandomization. He is currently working as a postdoc in the mathematics department of Stanford University.

Daniel's early interest in mathematics was strongly influenced by his father, Jonathan Kane, who was himself a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.