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A Few of My Favorite Things (About Being ASA President)

1 December 2014 439 views No Comment
Nathaniel Schenker

Nathaniel Schenker

In my January President’s Corner, my Presidential Address at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM), and other speeches I’ve given, I mentioned the doubts I had in 2011 about whether to accept the nomination for ASA president. I’d already served two three-year terms on the board of directors. If I were elected, my employer would require me to serve on my own time. And during my presidential year, my son would enter college.

Well, now I’m approaching the end of my presidential year, writing my final President’s Corner while lying on my living room sofa. I’m a bit more tired than I was when my term began, and my vacation-time balance is approaching zero, most of it having been spent on ASA work. My mind ponders the question, “If you had a ‘do over,’ would you accept the nomination again?” And my immediate, unequivocal response is “absolutely.” Why? Because without a doubt, this has been one of the best experiences of my career! In this column, I’d would like to discuss a few of my favorite activities thus far.

Meeting and communicating with members of the ASA and our profession. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting with and addressing members of the ASA and our profession at meetings of the Nevada, Southern California, Florida, and Connecticut chapters and at the 2014 Conference on Statistical Practice (CSP) and JSM. I’ve also enjoyed meeting with ASA committees, sections, councils, and other groups. Early in December, I’ll attend a meeting of the Boston Chapter and celebrate the ASA’s 175th anniversary close to the date of the ASA’s first meeting (in Boston)—November 27. And in the last week of the year, my final activity as president will be to attend and deliver the keynote address at the Institute of Applied Statistics, Sri Lanka International Conference. Such speaking engagements have been exciting, but just as rewarding has been meeting with and getting to know so many members of the ASA and our profession. Their enthusiasm, energy, and ideas have helped keep me going strong and are crucial to the success of our association and profession.

Making committee appointments. Speaking of communicating with ASA members, I was the last president-elect to make the full complement of 150 or so ASA committee appointments. Starting this year, we lightened the load on the president-elect by delegating the majority of the appointments to the Leadership Support Council and others with more direct oversight and knowledge of the committees. To tell the truth, the process of making 150 committee appointments—researching the interests and qualifications of potential appointees, making several phone calls and writing hundreds of emails, keeping track of progress via spreadsheets, etc.—was a lot of work and wasn’t my biggest thrill. So why do I include this activity among my favorites? Because witnessing our members’ interest in serving the association and the profession was gratifying. Not only did the vast majority of the invitees accept appointments, but they did so with grace and enthusiasm. Many of them even thanked me for the honor!

Formulating initiatives and observing their progress. At the same time I was making committee appointments, I was thinking about possible initiatives consistent with the ASA strategic plan. The exercise of formulating initiatives for my presidential year was stimulating and rewarding. I want to thank my predecessors as president—Bob Rodriguez and Marie Davidian—and Executive Director Ron Wasserstein for their thoughtful guidance during that time and others. Thanks also to Bob and Marie for co-formulating and co-leading our joint initiative on Big Data and data science.

Perhaps even more rewarding than formulating initiatives has been watching their progress.I must thank ASA board members Nick Horton, Janet Buckingham, and David Banks, as well as the members of the workgroups they’ve chaired, for their great work on updating the ASA Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Statistical Science, developing training in statistical leadership, and developing a prototype Statistical Commons (a web repository for various types of statistical material), respectively. Nick’s group’s updated guidelines, which are thoughtful and impressive, were endorsed by the board at its November meeting. Janet’s group developed a successful and highly rated short course for JSM 2014, and a future group will conduct follow-up work on this and other courses. And David’s group created a useful, multi-functional prototype, which a follow-on group will develop further with an initial emphasis on material for statistical education.

Working with the ASA Board of Directors, executive director, and staff. During my three terms on the ASA Board, I’ve attended more than 30 board meetings. You might think I’m crazy, or perhaps a glutton for punishment, but I have to admit I love these meetings. The board members are terrific, and I now count many of them among my friends. The meetings give me a chance to think about various issues and aspects of our profession in a way that wouldn’t be possible in my regular job. And Ron Wasserstein makes sure to structure the meetings in such a way that the board can think at a high level, without becoming bogged down in details.

Speaking of Ron, I’ve said in the past and I continue to believe that one of the most important contributions I’ve made to the ASA and the profession was to take part in the 2006 board’s vote to appoint him as executive director. He’s smart, creative, and forward thinking. He also seems to have boundless energy and he leads a terrific staff, which has served the membership well, made numerous important contributions to our association’s initiatives, and been a pleasure for me to work with as president.

Witnessing the continuing success of the Conference on Statistical Practice. I had the good fortune, as an ASA vice president beginning in 2008, to lead a workgroup on meetings appointed by then president-elect Sally Morton. Sally charged us with thinking about possible additions to the ASA’s meetings portfolio as a benefit to members and a source of additional revenue in the face of shrinking revenues from other sources. My workgroup formulated the initial proposal for CSP, which the board approved in 2009, and I’ve been thrilled with CSP’s progress since then. The conference, which was first held in 2012, is a wonderful resource for statistical practitioners to learn about important methodology and applications, and it is at the leading edge of the ASA’s efforts in personal skills development. Attendance has grown by about 50 participants per year, from about 300 in 2012 to about 400 in 2014. I hope the conference continues to grow while keeping its intimacy and distinct character.

ASA’s 175th anniversary. This column wouldn’t be complete without my mentioning our association’s anniversary. The 175th Anniversary Steering Committee, appointed by Bob Rodriguez and chaired by Christy Chuang-Stein, has done a fabulous job of creating resources such as the anniversary website; planning activities for celebrating our past, highlighted by the celebration at JSM 2014; and specifying three areas of focus for energizing our future—statistical education, membership growth, and communicating the positive impact of statistics. One of the ASA’s initiatives in these areas is a public relations campaign for statistics, This Is Statistics. I’d like to thank Mary Kwasny and the other members of the board workgroup she chairs for providing oversight for this exciting initiative.

What a wonderful year to serve as president and to deliver the Presidential Address! And a shout out to Steve Stigler, whose President’s Invited Address, “The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom,” delivered before a packed house at JSM 2014, was especially appropriate for our anniversary celebration.

In closing, I’d like to wish David Morganstein—my successor, colleague, and friend—a great year as president in 2015. David’s history of excellent service to the ASA and the profession, and the success of his initiatives to date, such as the pilot JSM 2014 docent program led by Mary Kwasny, bode well for his presidential year. I’d also like to thank the members of the ASA Committee on Nominations, as well as the ASA members, for giving me the opportunity to be president. It’s been a pleasure serving you and the profession, and I look forward to continuing as past president next year!

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