1956 ASA President Gertrude Cox (front, fourth from left) and Bernard Greenberg (back, second from left) at the 1963 ISI session in Ottawa. Greenberg family members are Ruth (back, left), Ray (front, second from left), and Frances (front, third from left). Others are A. Ross Eckler (second from right), who served as ASA president in 1969, and Tulio Hostilio Montenegro (fifth from right), secretary general of the InterAmerican Statistical Institute. Photo used with permission of the International Statistical Institute.

In February and March, I discussed the vital importance of statistical leadership and how we can prepare students and younger professionals for leadership. I conclude the series this month with insights on leadership from past ASA presidents and a little-known story about one of our best-known presidents.

Immediately following the names of presidents, I have indicated their presidential years. This will bring back memories for the longtime members. I am grateful to the presidents who contributed to this column and to Ray Greenberg and Frances Greenberg Klein for the accompanying photograph.

Rodriguez

Varieties of Leadership

Statistical leadership takes many forms, as observed by Ronald Iman (1994), who emphasizes our need for leaders “at multiple levels from small to large.”

Jon Kettenring (1997) praises the leaders he describes as “unsung local heroes,” explaining that “these are leaders we meet in all our chapters. They provide critical leadership in ways that are transparent to most of us, but their contributions add up and make the rest of us look good.”

The Path to Leadership

Although the presidents’ accomplishments are varied, their paths to leadership all began with a willingness to serve and work with others. Kettenring said he started small by helping to plan an ASA chapter in northern New Jersey. In the process, he met a wide range of statisticians from academia and industry. For Jon, “it then seemed that one opportunity led to another.”

Volunteering was also the first step for Robert Mason (2003), who started his current job at a time when he was the only statistician in his organization. Bob realized he needed to network with other statisticians, so he helped form a local chapter and volunteered as its first president. This led to election as representative to the Council of Chapters. Eventually, Bob was elected to the board of directors, where further roles opened.

Qualities of Outstanding Leaders

The presidents had much to say about the personal qualities they value in the outstanding statistical leaders they have known. Kettenring admires leaders who have a broad perspective on our field. They see opportunities because they think of statistics in terms of its interfaces and intersections, and they understand that these connections strengthen the profession and its impact on society.

Mason adds, “The qualities I have most admired in ASA leaders are their willingness to work with others, regardless of personal differences; to be cordial and gracious, yet firm, in decisionmaking; to listen to colleagues and respect their opinions, yet lead when required; to have a good sense of humor and a positive outlook on life, regardless of the outcome of a meeting or event; and to possess a genuine concern for the welfare of others.”

J. Stuart Hunter (1993) writes that the quality he has admired most in recognized leaders in our field is their empathy toward younger compatriots.

Leaders as Encouragers

Early in their careers, several presidents benefited from examples provided by established leaders. Kettenring acknowledges Ram Gnanadesikan at Bell Labs as “the perfect role model” because Ram was a statistical leader both domestically and internationally.

Words of encouragement from well-known leaders also made a difference. John Neter (1985) remembers the support he received from Donald Riley, ASA secretary from 1955 to 1968.

Tony Lachenbruch (2008) recalls that when he became an ASA Fellow in 1979, he unexpectedly received a congratulatory note from Frederick Mosteller (1967), who wrote knowledgeably about Tony’s contributions. Since then, Tony has made it a practice to send similar notes to others.

Important Skills for Leaders

All the presidents listed communication as a valuable skill they worked hard to acquire. Kettenring recounts, “The importance of this was driven home to me early on at Bell Labs. We rehearsed talks before being let out the door, and all documents were critiqued by management before they were finalized.”

Hunter believes statistical leaders should be communicators who enjoy being statisticians and show others that statistics is fun, interesting, and important.

Iman adds that successful leaders must be good listeners with the ability to interact with others, noting that ASA service provides opportunities to develop these skills. And Richard Scheaffer (2001) emphasizes the importance of organizational and planning skills.

The Multiplicative Effect of Great Leaders

According to John Maxwell, author of several books on leadership, leading others is a way to add growth to an organization, but developing and leading leaders is the way to multiply growth.

One of the finest examples of a “multiplicative” leader in our field is Gertrude Cox, who—among her many contributions—served as ASA president in 1956.

The legacy of Cox is prominent in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, where she helped establish three academic departments. These eventually became the department of statistics at North Carolina State University, the department of statistics and operations research at The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and the department of biostatistics at UNC Chapel Hill. Gertrude also was instrumental in founding the Research Triangle Institute. Today, her legacy is shared by two major companies­—Quintiles and SAS—which grew from university programs she established.

Cox’s accomplishments are all the more remarkable because they came at a time when statistics was a mostly male field. She encouraged young women to enter the field, and the ASA’s Cox Scholarship honors her memory by promoting that goal.

An example of how Cox influenced younger people to become leaders is the way in which she encouraged Bernard Greenberg to start a biostatistics department at UNC in 1949—while he was still a graduate student at North Carolina State College.

The story of Greenberg’s appointment was never published, but his son, Ray, gives us a glimpse of how it came about. “Unlike the way things work today with search committees, things in 1949 were handled a lot less formally. The appointment of my father was like an arranged marriage, with the matchmakers being Professor Cox and Edward McGavran, dean of the school of public health. It was a bold move on both their parts to take a newly minted graduate, not yet 30 years old, with no real academic experience, and place him in a position of leadership and responsibility as a department chair (even if there was only one faculty member in the department at the time).”

“It is also worth noting that these were the days when there were few Jewish faculty members, much less department chairs, at the university. So barriers were broken with this appointment, but Professor Cox and Dean McGavran were both excellent judges of talent, and they saw in Bernie Greenberg the potential to grow the new department and to help build the research strength of the school.”

Greenberg went on to become a nationally recognized leader in the field of public health and later dean of what is now the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He is especially remembered by alumni for his gracious encouragement of students.

Conclusions

Among the lessons to be gained from these presidential perspectives, I conclude with three. First, the road to statistical leadership begins with volunteering. Second, successful leaders work on their communication skills and apply them as champions for our field. Third, great leaders encourage and develop younger leaders.

We need leaders at all levels of our association. And exceptional leaders should be the norm—not the exception!