The ASA announces the selection of candidates for the 2014 election. The winning candidates’ terms will begin in 2015. Make sure to look for your ballots in your email inbox and to vote early. Voting begins at midnight EDT on March 14 and ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 3.

Read complete candidate biographies (PDF download).

President-elect

Jessica Utts

The remarkable growth in the collection and use of data throughout society has greatly expanded opportunities for statisticians, but also placed a greater responsibility on us to ensure the appropriate and ethical use and interpretation of data. From these trends, I see two emerging needs. One is the need for more people to choose a career in statistics. The other is the need for a foundation in statistical literacy for all educated citizens. Since the adoption of the ASA Strategic Plan in 2008, each president has implemented new initiatives addressing specific aspects of the plan. The dual needs for more statisticians and greater statistical literacy have led to three initiatives I hope to pursue if elected. They all address the Strategic Plan theme of increasing the visibility and understanding of our profession among the public, but each is targeted at a different audience.

1. Awareness of Statistics as an Exciting Career Choice

As I write this, I’m starting my 40th year as a member of the ASA. But just three years before I joined the ASA, I didn’t know there was a career choice called “statistician.” Fortunately, one of my professors was the son of statistician S. N. Roy, and he suggested I investigate statistics as a career. On his recommendation, I wrote to the ASA for advice. I received a nice letter from Executive Director Fred Leone outlining options for graduate school and beyond. Thus began my career as a statistician.

My vision is to have every student who graduates from high school know that “statistician” is not only a career option, but a rewarding, versatile, well-paid one. I hope to continue work the ASA public relations coordinator has started on the development and dissemination of information about statistics careers. The timing of this election coincides with my appointment to a five-year term as chief reader for the Advanced Placement Statistics program, with which I have been involved since the first exam in 1997. One of the successes of the AP program is that an extensive network has developed among high-school teachers and college faculty. That network could be instrumental in getting career information to students. Even if we only target AP Statistics students, we would reach a few hundred thousand of the best students every year.

2. Statistical Literacy Where It Matters

Statistical literacy matters for everyone, from the media to the masses. The ASA already reaches out to policymakers such as congressional staffers. But imagine if every student graduated from high school with a basic foundation in statistical literacy. In the United States, the new Common Core curriculum has vastly increased the statistics content in the K–12 curriculum. Other countries are adopting similar changes. The statistics community has an opportunity to make sure these changes focus on conceptual understanding. The most important step we can take is to emphasize the relevance of statistics in daily life to the math teachers responsible for implementing the curriculum. The ASA can and should provide resources for teachers as this new curriculum is launched.

3. Being Effective with the Media

Statistical conclusions are increasingly in the news, and often misrepresented. Few statisticians have been trained to work with the media, but some simple strategies could help us get our messages across. Many years ago, I was involved in a media event leading to appearances on Larry King Live, CNN News, and other shows. Two hours of training from my campus’ media trainer made a big difference in being able to communicate effectively. ASA members should have the opportunity to obtain media training, which could be made available through workshops at JSM and the ASA website. The training should include how to respond effectively to statistical misinformation in the media, as well as how to present your own work to the media. I am excited about where our profession is headed and would be honored to have the opportunity to help achieve these goals as ASA president.

President-elect

Iain Johnstone

I am honored to be asked to be a candidate for president and, if elected, to serve the largest organized community of statisticians. We are lucky to live in a time in which data collection and analysis is expanding in every sphere: public and private, education and research. Opportunity—and challenge—abound, both for statisticians now active and those in training. The ASA offers both community and a broad spectrum of services to support the activities and aspirations of its members. The ASA’s strategic plan provides continuity and a thoughtful framework within which successive presidents can innovate, an excellent example being the joint initiatives of the current and recent presidents around Big Data and data science. Following are areas of focus in the strategic plan to which I look forward to contributing:

Visibility and Impact in Policymaking

The ASA has a big advocacy role in both “statistics for policy” and “policy for statistics.” The first involves working to ensure sound data and statistical analysis guide policy formation. The second includes both education in statistics at all levels and public funding for scientific and statistical research. I have some recent experience with chairing advisory committees for the National Science Foundation and hope to bring a bit of that to bear in work for the ASA.

Public Awareness

The ASA was a central player in the recent and very successful International Year of Statistics. I participated in the capstone workshop on the future of statistical sciences, which was both a showcase and a forum for lively discussion of ways forward. The IYSTAT effort will continue under the name The World of Statistics. This ASA anniversary year will see the launch of an outreach campaign about careers in statistics.

Membership Growth

The ASA is the Big Tent for statistics, and membership is now at nearly 19,000. New sections are being added, along with interest and outreach groups. During my presidential cycle at the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, that group planned to make membership free for students—a move that has served them well. A target of 20,000 and more seems well within reach, and I will support efforts to identify and reach out to potential members.

Education

The ASA seeks to advocate for and support statistics education at all levels: K–12, undergraduate, and graduate. AP Statistics continues to grow, as does the number of undergraduate statistics majors, though the latter is still small relative to other fields. An important ASA effort to review undergraduate statistics guidelines will report in the coming year. For practicing statisticians, the ASA is expanding its continuing professional development offerings, especially at JSM and the Conference on Statistical Practice, but also in other ways.

Meetings

JSM continues to grow, perhaps by 1,000 attendees in the last 10 years. The number of concurrent sessions is approaching both physical and psychological limits. JSM has experimented with new formats such as speed presentations, and we should continue to look at ways in which the meetings can best evolve to serve members and all partner societies.

Publications and Information Needs

The ASA’s journals are renowned and a major intellectual asset. More broadly, the ASA aims to offer a variety of publications, web-based services, and professional development opportunities to serve the full community. The association is rightly seeking a path that combines breadth of access with fiscal responsibility.

Financial Status

It seems the ASA is in good shape, with strong reserves, but caution is in order in a rapidly changing environment for publications and advertising revenue. The ASA’s ongoing effort to expand fundraising and development activities is important and worthy of leadership attention.

Thank you for reading this far! If elected, I look forward to hearing from members, subgroups, and leadership in further planning my own contributions.

Vice President

Devan V. Mehrotra

It is an honor and privilege for me to be a candidate for vice president of the ASA as we celebrate the 175th anniversary of our association. Given the current and projected statistical needs in different segments of our society, this is an incredibly exciting time for statistics students and experienced statistical scientists in various stages of their respective careers in academia, government, industry, and private practice. The ASA’s current strategic plan promotes a variety of activities for strengthening the public awareness of our profession, improving the visibility and impact of statistical thinking in the policy arena, increasing the quantity and quality of ASA membership, enhancing the scope and format of the ASA’s professional meetings and educational programs, improving access to statistical journals and related information needs, and boosting the ASA’s organizational effectiveness and efficiency. If elected, I will provide enthusiastic support and energy for these undertakings. In addition, I will leverage my experience of almost 25 years of statistical practice to offer pragmatic ideas for converting emerging threats and challenges faced by statisticians into potential opportunities for synergy and collaboration.

For example, some in our profession are understandably concerned that data scientists, modelers, and information analysts may displace the traditional role of the statistician on project teams. I deem this extremely unlikely because the quantitative insights of a well-trained statistician with subject matter expertise are irreplaceable. Solving complex Big Data problems requires collaborative multidisciplinary efforts. Instead of adopting defensive postures by our statistical community, I see virtue in embracing the ASA’s Big Tent view by reaching out to other quantitative scientists and subject matter specialists and addressing competing viewpoints objectively via sound statistical principles.

I am deeply passionate about mentoring, providing statistical leadership, delivering value-added innovation, and learning from and collaborating with others through partnerships that leverage multidisciplinary skill sets. Over the years, my strengthening record of statistical scholarship and leadership has rewarded me with exciting opportunities, including serving as a subject matter expert for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and National Academy of Sciences. I have enjoyed serving our profession in various capacities, including advising PhD students, teaching/presenting at numerous conferences and academic institutions, and serving the ASA in a variety of roles, including as chair of the ASA committee on career development, president of the ASA Philadelphia Chapter, core member of the executive committee of the Biopharmaceutical Section, and associate editor for The American Statistician.

I would be delighted to serve on the ASA Board as a vice president, working with other board members to help execute the strategic plan and generate new ideas for strengthening the future of our association and its beneficiaries.

Vice President

Robert L. Santos

I am honored to be your candidate for vice president and, if elected, would be a creative and passionate board member pursuing the ASA’s mission.

I believe society is in a renaissance borne by technological advances, cultural diversification, and globalization. Statistics has never been more assimilated into everyday life than it is today. This is cause for celebration; however, statistics careers are at risk of being overtaken by sub-specialties in other careers (e.g., data analytics).

But threats can be opportunities! To illustrate, I’m an advocate of the sustainability of our profession, but this can’t be achieved without initiatives to promote it. I am interested in building a pipeline from elementary school to the university and beyond. My premise is that it is good to engage a student’s interest in statistics, regardless of career preference. If nothing else, garnering such interest enhances the stature of statisticians. I envision a systemic approach capitalizing on association partnerships to spark students’ interests in statistics using representatives from a variety of fields with statistical specialties (thus transforming a threat into an opportunity). The coalition shares the effort, allowing the ASA to engage more students. A student ambassador component could be used to engage other students in a ‘pay-it-forward’ strategy, and this addresses the biggest barrier to pipeline efforts: non-graduating high-school students.

This illustrates the creativity I hope to offer the ASA Board. Over the past 35 years, I have worked in leadership positions in the academic, commercial, and nonprofit research sectors. There has hardly been a year when I was not involved as a chair or member of an ASA committee or section (currently Accreditation Committee member and Social Statistics Section chair). Moreover, I’m a proud member of sister association AAPOR, currently serving as president. My experience provides a great foundation from which to serve you.

Publications Board Representative

David A. Van Dyk

The proliferation of digital technology has led to a fast-paced evolution of the publication industry and is giving rise to remarkable new opportunities for the American Statistical Association. Our journals face fresh challenges as they are transformed by a set of new digital technologies that promise to increase their access, influence, and functionality. As a member of the ASA Board, I will endeavor to shape this transformation to best serve the membership, profession, and consumers of our publications.

Publications Board Representative

Hal Stern

The current goals of the American Statistical Association are to increase the visibility of our profession and establish the ASA as an association that serves all of its diverse constituencies. Our broad portfolio of outstanding journals and magazines plays a major role in helping us achieve both these goals. The present era continues to be a time of great change and great promise for scientific publishing. We should continue to take advantage of the opportunities provided by technology, which include the ability to provide faster and broader access to developments in the field. We can continue to add journals as the range of problems we address and the influence of our field continue to grow, but members of our community also are expressing concern about the proliferation of journals. I would be honored and excited to represent our publications on the board of directors to ensure our excellent and prestigious journals continue to support our profession, association, and members.

Council of Chapters Board Representative

Daniel Kasprzyk

The association membership is diverse in terms of members’ interests, educational backgrounds, and applications of our discipline. The chapters, defined by geography, represent another way the association’s diversity is exhibited. The ASA’s strategic plan is organized around two broad themes—increasing the visibility of the profession and the association as a Big Tent for statistics. These are important themes on which it is easy to agree in principle, but which can be implemented in many ways, affecting groups within the association differently.

In recent years, each president of the ASA has developed his/her goals and plans consistent with the strategic plan. Working with the leadership of the Council of Chapters Governing Board, chapter concerns and ideas should be strongly represented in the discussion and implementation of presidential and association initiatives. There is also a need to continue to seek ways to strengthen the association by helping to maintain good communication between the ASA Board, Council of Chapters, and Council of Chapters Governing Board and to develop ways for the national office to help chapters thrive intellectually and professionally by promoting collegiality, mentoring, networking, and continuing education.

Council of Chapters Board Representative

Wendy Lou

I am honored to stand for election as Council of Chapters Board Representative. I have held various roles within the Southern Ontario Chapter and just completed a second term as chapter president. My chapter activities have focused on connecting the great variety of statistical groups in my region through annual joint events, such as last year’s Workshop and Research Day that was hosted in Toronto by the Southern Ontario and Buffalo-Niagara Chapters and other local statistical associations.Within the Statistical Society of Canada, I have served as publications officer on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and chaired their Public Relations Committee, through which I was involved in a variety of initiatives to promote our statistical profession north of the border. As an educator in a school of public health, I am fortunate to be involved for research and training purposes with numerous multidisciplinary teams that are partially based in local research institutes and hospitals, and I see firsthand how increased collection of data is rapidly spreading the application of statistics among quantitative researchers. Developing collaborative relationships with other scientific associations, especially via regional interactions with effective local organizational support, will help, I believe, to increase the visibility and value of our profession. If elected, I will work hard to serve the interests of our chapters.

Council of Sections Board Representative

Anna Nevius

The Council of Sections (COS) is an important part of the ASA, serving all the sections, each representing a different area of statistical practice. The sections provide a structure in which statisticians interested in a specific area of statistics can collaborate with fellow statisticians of similar interest resulting in career growth and professional development. The sections and their members are important to the ASA and, for the ASA to serve them effectively, their concerns need to be heard and communicated to the ASA Board of Directors. In turn, the ASA Board of Directors needs an avenue to convey to the sections the ASA’s policies and concerns. An important concern to section members is how meetings and, in particular, the Joint Statistical Meetings can be restructured to meet the growing attendance and desire to have more invited and topic-contributed sessions while realizing we are reaching the physical limit on the number of concurrent sessions that can be held.

As stated above, professional development is important to section members. A new feature of ASA continuing professional development is the career-enhancing courses such as improving presentation skills and learning how to effectively influence others. The board needs feedback from sections on these issues. I see the COS Governing Board representative as the link between these two groups. I have served as a Council of Sections representative from the Biopharmaceutical Section and as the treasurer for the Council of Sections. I am honored to be a candidate for the COS Governing Board representative to the ASA Board of Directors.

Council of Sections Board Representative

Stephen Cohen

I am honored to be a candidate for Council of Sections Governing Board (COSGB) representatives to the ASA Board of Directors. The ASA provided me the opportunity to meet and professionally interact with a broad spectrum of statisticians outside of my business contacts. These interactions provided me with ideas beyond those gained by attending conferences and reading journals. We need to encourage younger statisticians of our profession to join the ASA for both tangible and these intangible benefits and to ultimately be more engaged in influencing the future of our profession.

ASA sections and chapters are the driving force behind the ASA as a Big Tent for statistics. The ASA is a large diverse organization; however, sections, chapters, and smaller specialized conferences supported by the ASA make it possible for junior statisticians and others to become rapidly engaged in the ASA and the statistics profession. As COSGB representative, I would serve on both the ASA Board and the COSGB, where I would continue to help the ASA as the Big Tent that continues to make joining the ASA worthwhile.

I have been honored to be elected to section leadership positions. In these positions, I helped ensure conferences were supported that allowed statisticians to interact with their peers in smaller settings than JSM. I supported efforts to encourage younger statisticians to become more active to influence the future of our profession. I actively supported efforts to partially fund graduate student attendance at JSM with a travel award competition. I supported efforts of our sections to go beyond the traditional paper presentation sessions at JSM such as round tables with coffee that are affordable, promoting posters that can be more rewarding than presenting a paper in front of a group of people.

ASA 2014 Election Candidates List

Council of Chapters Governing Board
Chair-Elect
Harold Dyck, California State University, San Bernardino
Ananda Jayawardhana, Pittsburg State University
Vice Chair, Region 1, District 1
Andrew Reilly, University of Albany
Mimi Kim, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Vice Chair, Region 1, District 2
Xiao Wang, Purdue University
Robert Johnson, Vanderbilt University

Council of Sections Governing Board
Chair-elect
Allan Rossman, Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo
Bonnie Ghosh, The RAND Corporation
Vice Chair
Natalie Cheung Hall, Eli Lilly and Company
Stuart Gansky, University of California, San Francisco

Section on Bayesian Statistical Science
Chair-elect
Peter Mueller, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Steven N. MacEachern, The Ohio State University
Program Chair-elect
Deb Sinha, Florida State University
David Dahl, Brigham Young University
Secretary/Treasurer
Michele Guindani, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Abel Rodriguez, University of California, Santa Cruz

Biometrics Section
Chair-elect
Debashis Ghosh, Pennsylvania State University
Page Moore, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Secretary/Treasurer
Jonathan Schildcrout, Vanderbilt University
Wei Sun, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Council of Sections Representative
Elizabeth Brown, University of Washington
Jason Roy, University of Pennsylvania

Biopharmaceutical Section
Chair-elect
Christie Clark
Kalyan Ghosh, BMS
Secretary
Ed Luo, Bausch & Lomb, Inc.
Stephine Keeton, PPDI
Program Chair-elect
Olga Marchenko, Quintiles
Jingyee Kou, FDA
Council of Sections Representative
Kjell Johnson, Arbor Analytics, LLC
Bill Pikounis, Johnson & Johnson

Business and Economic Statistics Section
Chair-elect
Ana Aizcorbe, Virginia Tech
Tim Dunne, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Program Chair-elect
Rob Cage, Bureau of Labor Statistics
David Johnson, U.S. Census Bureau
Secretary/Treasurer
Graton Gathright, U.S. Census Bureau
David Matteson, Cornell

Section on Statistical Computing
Chair-elect
Wenbin Lu, North Carolina State University
David Poole, AT&T Labs – Research
Program Chair-elect
Wendy L. Martinez, Bureau of Labor Statistics
R. Todd Ogden, Columbia University
Council of Sections Representative
Jonathan W. Lane, Sandia National Laboratories
Yan Sun, Utah State University

Section on Statistical Consulting
Chair-elect
Chris Holloman, The Ohio State University
Jonathan Mahnken, The University of Kansas
Publications Officer
Jarrod Dalton, Cleveland Clinic
Vaneeta Grover, Hockessin
Council of Sections Representative
Nan Hu, University of Utah
MaryJo Smith, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Executive Committee at Large
Edward Jones, Texas A&M
Nicholas Pajewski, Wake Forest

Section on Statistical Education
Chair-elect
Nick Horton, Amherst College
Dalene Stangl, Duke University
Council of Sections Representative
Rudy Guerra, Rice University
Jackie Miller, University of Michigan
Executive Committee at Large
Elena Rantou, FDA
Sam Wilcock, Messiah College
Tena I. Katsaounis, The Ohio State University
Michael Posner, Villanova University

Section on Statistics and the Environment
Chair-elect
Megan D. Higgs, Montana State University
Paul Patterson, U.S. Forest Service
Program Chair-elect
Brian Reich, North Carolina State University
Zhengyuan Zhu, Iowa State University
Treasurer
Ephraim Hanks, Penn State
Emily L. Kang, University of Cincinnati
Council of Sections Representative
Jarrett Jay Barber, Arizona State University
William Christensen, Brigham Young University

Section on Statistics in Epidemiology
Chair-elect
Miguel Hernan, Harvard School of Public Health
Brian Leroux, University of Washington
Program Chair-elect
Yan Ma, Cornell
Daniel Gillen, University of California, Irvine
Council of Sections Representative
Mike Baiocchi, Stanford University
Qixuan Chen, Columbia University

Section on Government Statistics
Chair-elect
Dan Cork, Committee on National Statistics
Mike Davern, NORC
Program Chair-elect
Morgan Earp, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Michael Messner, Environmental Protection Agency
Secretary/Treasurer
Kevin Cecco, Internal Revenue Service
Jennifer Parker, National Center for Health Statistics
Publications Officer
Aneesah Williams, U.S. Census Bureau
Sylvia Dohrmann, Westat

Health Policy Statistics Section
Chair-elect
Laura Lee Johnson, NIH, NCCAM
Susan Paddock, RAND Corporation

Section on Statistics in Marketing
Chair-elect
Kinshuk Jerath, Columbia University
Sam Hui, New York University
Program Chair-elect
Eva Ascarza, Columbia University
William Rand, University of Maryland
Publications Officer
Joe Retzer, MarketTools, Inc.
Andrew Stephen, University of Pittsburgh

Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences
Chair-elect
Jennifer Van Mullekom, Dupont
James Wendelberger, Urbanscience
Program Chair-elect
Ananda Sen, University of Michigan
Tirthanker Dasgupta, Harvard University

Quality and Productivity Section
Chair-elect
Sarah Kalicin, Intel Corporation
William Brenneman, Procter & Gamble Company
Program Chair-elect
Zhanpan Zhang, GE
John Szarka

Section on Risk Analysis
Chair-elect*
Michael E. Tarter, University of California, Berkeley
Program Chair-elect
Michael Pennell, The Ohio State University
Binbing Yu, MedImmune, LLC

Social Statistics Section
Chair-elect
Guillermina Jasso, New York University
David Judkins, Abt Associates, Inc.
Program Chair-elect
Stas Kolenikov, Abt SRBI
Craig Hill, RTI International
Publications Officer
Matt Jans, University of California, Los Angeles
Joy Sharp, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Section on Statistics in Sports
Chair-elect
Jay Emerson, Yale University
Jason Connor, Berry Consultants
Program Chair-elect
Garritt Page, Catholic University of Chile
Kendra Schmid, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Council of Sections Representative
Gil Fellingham, Brigham Young University
Tim Swartz, Simon Fraser University

Survey Research Methods Section
Chair-elect
Michael Larsen, The George Washington University
Mary Batcher, Ernst & Young
Program Chair-elect
Yan Li, University of Maryland
Jae-Kwang Kim, Iowa State University
Treasurer
Michael P. Cohen, American Institutes for Research
Dan Liao, RTI International
Publications Officer
Yulei He, National Center for Health Statistics
Trent Buskirk, Marketing Systems Group
Council of Sections Representative
Meena Khare, National Center for Health Statistics
Howard Hogan, U.S. Census Bureau
Education Officer
Stas Kolenikov, Abt SRBI
Wan-Ying Chang, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
Chair-elect
Felicity T. Enders, Mayo Clinic Foundation
Roger D. Vaughan, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Section on Nonparametric Statistics
Chair-elect
Douglas Nychka, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Naisyin Wang, University of Michigan
Program Chair-elect
Haipeng Shen, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chad Schafer, Carnegie Mellon University
Treasurer
Ethan Anderes, University of California, Davis
Xiao Wang, Purdue University
Publications Officer
Nicoleta Serban, Georgia Institute of Technology
Phil Reiss, New York University

Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security
Chair-elect
Jeff Solka, NSWCDD
Barry Bodt, ARL
Program Chair-elect
Kyle Caudle, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Katherine Ensor, Rice University

Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts
Chair-elect**
Pandu Kulkarni, Eli Lilly and Company
Program Chair-elect
Cindy Lee, Eli Lilly and Company
Taylor Arnold, Travelers Insurance

Section on Statistical Learning and Data Mining
Chair-elect
Richard De Veaux, Williams College
George Michailidis, University of Michigan
Program Chair-elect
Howard Bondell, North Carolina State University
Ali Shojaie, University of Washington

Section on Statistics in Imaging
Chair-elect
Ranjan Maitra, Iowa State University
John Kornak, University of California, San Francisco
Program Chair-elect
Xiaofeng Wang, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Jian Kang, Emory University
Council of Sections Representative
Todd Ogden, Columbia University
Grace Hyun Kim, University of California, Los Angeles

Section on Mental Health Statistics
Chair-elect
Juned Siddique, Northwestern University
Ying Lu, Stanford University and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System
Program Chair-elect
Samprit Banerjee, Weill Cornell Medical College
Zhehui Luo, Michigan State University

* The section was unable to locate a second candidate to run for the position of chair-elect. ASA bylaws do not allow for uncontested elections. However, to maintain continuity of the section’s leadership, it was decided to continue with this election despite having only one candidate for the position of Section on Risk Analysis chair-elect.

**The second candidate for this position was forced to withdraw due to other commitments. Due to the timing, an alternate candidate was unable to be located in time for the election. ASA bylaws do not allow for uncontested elections. However, to maintain continuity of the section’s leadership, it was decided to continue with this election despite having only one candidate for the position of Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts chair-elect.