September 2023 Newsletter

Dear alumni and friends,

This time last year we gathered for the school’s 50th anniversary celebration. There, in her anniversary address, guest speaker and School of Statistics alumna Shefali Mehta took to the podium and said ”When we seek to increase our understanding or tackle the complex questions that face our world, it is statistics that we turn to again and again.” 

I invite you to explore stories highlighting how CLA students, faculty, and alumni are using data science to do good in their communities. The collection of articles was produced by the College of Liberal Arts’ Data Science Initiative, an ongoing collaboration involving our School of Statistics. Fall programming for the initiative also includes a Collaborative Workshop on Socioeconomic Inequality for CLA faculty, graduate students, and researchers. If you know of someone that would like to participate, please share the event details, and if your work utilizes statistics and data science to address challenges in the community, please consider telling us about it by contacting news@stat.umn.edu. 

Exciting developments are taking place within the School of Statistics and are highlighted below, including Professor Hui Zou’s appointment as the inaugural Dr. Lynn Y. S. Lin Professor, introductions to new faculty members Tianxi Li and Aaron Molstad, and promotions for faculty members Jie Ding and Adam Rothman. 

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the work of the school’s Advisory Board. Over the past 9 years the Board has provided invaluable guidance and made a real impact on the school’s direction. I hope to expand the membership of the Advisory Board this year so if you have suggestions or would like to nominate someone, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Warm regards,

Galin Jones
Professor and Director, The School of Statistics