Advisory Board

Edward J. Bedrick is a Professor of Biostatistics and Assistant Director of the Statistics Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Previously, Ed was a faculty member at the University of Colorado and the University of New Mexico. He has extensive experience developing statistical methods and in the design and analysis of biomedical studies including cancer clinical trials. His current research and teaching focuses on Bayesian methods and linear models. Two current collaborative projects concern modeling degeneration of the knee and designing a clinical trial for Valley Fever. A native of New York City, Ed received his BA from SUNY at Buffalo and his PhD in 1984 from the University of Minnesota. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and a Past-President of the Western North American Region of the International Biometric Society.

Paul Boruta is a serial technology startup founder and advertising industry veteran with a passion for marketing technology.  Paul founded his most recent startup, Slingwave, in 2017, to leverage machine learning and Bayesian statistics to help solve some of the most thorny problems in marketing attribution and analytics.  Prior to Slingwave, Paul was the CEO and Co-Founder of Pipewave, a company focused on media and creative optimization for marketers and agencies on YouTube. In 2012, Pipewave was acquired by ZEFR, a Venice Beach-based digital technology company.  Prior to ZEFR, Paul was Sr. Director of Ad Products at Yahoo!, and a technology equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs and Piper Jaffray.  Paul has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from St. Olaf College.  After 18 years in Los Angeles, he and his family relocated to Edina, Minnesota in 2022.  

Jonathan French is a 1991 graduate of the UMN School of Statistics, where he did his master’s thesis on decision theory under the guidance of Kathryn Chaloner. After working in environmental and academic consulting for five years, he returned to graduate school to study biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2000 he received his doctorate in biostatistics, studying with Matt Wand and Joe Ibrahim. Following a year of post-doctoral research, Jonathan joined Pfizer as a lead project statistician working on compounds to treat depression, ADHD, and sleep disorders. Over the course of 11 years at Pfizer, he migrated to a role in the modeling and simulation (pharmacometrics) group where he led a team of modelers working primarily in oncology. He is currently a fellow at Metrum Research Group, a global leader in model-informed drug development consulting. Jonathan believes deeply in the importance of training and mentoring new generations of statisticians and modelers. To that end, he currently sits on the board of directors of the International Society of Pharmacometrics and has held leadership positions in the Connecticut chapter of the American Statistical Association. In his free time, he enjoys reading, listening to music, and hiking and playing tennis with his wife and two children.

Nathan Hubbell is a second vice president in the personal insurance research and development department at Travelers Insurance. He has been with Travelers Insurance for 13 years in a variety of actuarial and statistical modeling positions. Hubbell is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and a graduate of St. Olaf College, where he majored in mathematics with statistics and molecular biology concentrations.

Tom Keenan is currently a senior engineering program manager of manufacturing data analytics for the neuromodulation business unit of Medtronic, PLC in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. He has more than 25 years of experience at Medtronic working as an industrial statistician and Lean Sigma Master black belt. He completed a bachelor of statistics degree from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology (now the College of Science & Engineering) in 1986 and an MS in statistics from the University of Minnesota in 1990. He is an adjunct instructor in the School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota).

Jeff Lande is currently a Senior Principal Statistician, with expertise in clinical trial statistical methodology and bioinformatics. He also is a reliable mentor, passionate about providing statistical support to others, with more than 20 years of experience in medical research, including 15 years at Medtronic as a scientist and statistician. He is a Board member at the Minnesota Academy of Science and a member of the STEM outreach community at Medtronic. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a master’s degree in statistics and a Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, developmental biology and genetics, both from the University of Minnesota.

Lynn Lin was raised in Taiwan in humble circumstances, but excelled in his studies. His academic qualifications include the BS and MS degrees in agricultural economics from National Chung-Hsing University in Taiwan, an MS in statistics from Kansas State University. He moved to Minnesota and completed his PhD in the School of Statistics in 1975 and has since published more than 50 technical papers in the areas of statistics, economics, advertising research, and new product research in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Lin was always dedicated to statistical solutions for real-world problems, so after school he joined the Pillsbury Company and then Booz Allen & Hamilton. He left to form his consulting company in 2002. He is best-known for BASES, the new-product sales forecasting methodology he invented, which now has a 65-70% market share worldwide. Dr. Lin is a regular speaker at educational events for quantitative professionals and the author of several books. The School has benefited from his subvention of the summer internships that have exposed so many of our graduate students to the uses and applications of statistics in the real world.

Steve MacEachern attended Carleton College, receiving a BA in Mathematics before moving on to the University of Minnesota for his graduate work. Upon graduation, he took a position at The Ohio State University where he is currently Professor of Statistics with a courtesy appointment in Psychology. He has spent leaves at Duke University and Carnegie Mellon University. He has served as President of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis and in a number of service roles for the American Statistical Association, including Program Chair for the 2012 Joint Statistical Meeting. Steve has worked on a variety of problems, ranging from the development and implementation of Bayesian methodology, to the creation of classical techniques in areas such as sampling and quality control, to applications in psychology and marketing. His research includes the development of models and inferential strategies, exploration of models’ properties, and the development of computational techniques. Recurring themes include robustness, the impact of model misspecification, and the gap between model and reality.

Dr. Shefali Mehta, an environmental and agricultural economist and statistician, focuses on developing strategy and change plans for organizations undergoing transformation.  She founded and leads Open Rivers Consulting Associates to tailor solutions and create holistic strategies for a range of clients. Prior to founding Open Rivers, Dr. Mehta worked in roles across private, public and non-profit sectors including McKinsey, Syngenta, the Soil Health Partnership, amongst others. She serves or has served as a Board member for various groups including Bountifield, Pheasants Forever, Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pest Center (MITPPC), the School of Statistics at University of Minnesota, The Gates Scholar Advisory Council, amongst others. Dr. Mehta received her PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics and MS in Statistics from the University of Minnesota, MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University and a BA in Economics from New York University. 

Catherine Micek is a Lead Data Scientist at Paramount. She holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Minnesota. In her PhD thesis, Katy developed mathematical models for polymer gel swelling with applications to artificial bone implants and drug-delivery devices. Katy has worked in both academic and industrial positions since earning her degree. In addition to teaching college mathematics, she has worked on cross-functional business teams as a data scientist, software developer, and predictive modeler teams across diverse industries (insurance, energy, finance, supply chain, manufacturing, and media). Katy is also an active speaker and mentor. She is frequently invited to colleges, universities, and conferences to discuss her technical work and career experiences in data science, and she is a contributor to publications by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics on industrial career options. In her free time, Katy enjoys spending time with friends and family, as well as ballroom dancing, rock climbing, and cooking.

Bret Musser is currently the Head of the Biostatistics department at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he leads a group covering early clinical development, late stage clinical development, and commercialization support. After completing his PhD studies at the University of Minnesota, he joined Merck Research Laboratories in 1998, where he drove the application of statistical principles across clinical development. His experience spans from preclinical studies through large outcomes trials. Dr. Musser has led groups dedicated to the development and application of advanced mathematical models in drug discovery and development. Dr. Musser joined Regeneron in 2017 to create a new group dedicated to advancing the state of statistical practice in early clinical development, as well as supporting the development of novel treatments for rare diseases and has since taken on broader roles in the company. Dr. Musser’s current research interests focus on the development of novel biomarkers based on wearable sensor technologies, and he is passionate about developing the next generation of statisticians.  

Shane Pederson is a Senior Data Scientist working on analytic and bioinformatics solutions in food safety at bioMerieux. He has worked as a consulting statistician for over 30 years – in government (Los Alamos National Laboratory), academics (Georgia Institute of Technology), and banking (JPMorgan Chase). He has extensive experience in engineering, litigation, and econometrics, and has received several patents relating to the optimization of financial services analytics. He is a native Minnesotan and received his BS and PhD degrees in Statistics from the University of Minnesota.

Ron Regal earned his PhD in statistics from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1975. After leaving the New York State Health Department in 1981, he taught in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Minnesota Duluth until 2013. Since 2013 he has continued research collaborations including part time employment by Essentia Health, a large health system with clinics from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Idaho. Projects at Essentia include for example efficacy of cardiac treatments and genomic effects on responses to methylphenidate in ADHD children. Example projects elsewhere include collaborations on trends for bird species in Superior and Chippewa National Forests, animal studies on immunological mechanisms in preeclampsia, and linguistics studies.

Rich Scamehorn uses his 20 years of research and insights experience to lead InContext Solutions' insights function in designing primary market research studies utilizing virtual store simulation techniques to address clients’ business issues. Prior to co-founding InContext Solutions in 2009, Scamehorn led virtual store and in-store testing at General Mills. He also managed their advanced analytics primary market research group during his eight years with General Mills. Scamehorn has a BA in mathematics from Macalester College and a MS in statistics from the University of Minnesota.

Stephen Tich possesses over 25 years executive leadership in numerous financial service industries including insurance, mortgages, and payments across a global scope, which includes six years based in Hong Kong. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer, Global Insurance at HSBC bank, leading insurance operations and IT across 15 countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe, and North America. Prior to HSBC, Stephen spent nine years at General Electric (GE) where he worked on its corporate audit staff and was heavily engaged in GE's six sigma initiative. Tich began his career conducting statistical analyses of customer data for target marketing, customer interaction, and credit and payment behavior for a direct mail firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tich received his BA in statistics from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business.