Affiliation
Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University

Educational Background
National Center for Atmospheric Research: Postdoc, Environmental Sciences (1999)
The University of Chicago: PhD, Statistics (1998)
University of Valladolid, Spain: BS, Mathematics (Extraordinary Award of Graduation-1993)
University of Valladolid, Spain: BS, Music (Piano Performance-1993)

About Montse
Montse Fuentes came to Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016 from North Carolina State University, where she served as head of the department of statistics and James M. Goodnight Distinguished Professor of Statistics.

She is an editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association, the flagship journal of statistics. She sits on three committees for the National Academy of Sciences and was the 2015–2016 winner of the D.D. Mason Award at NC State, made in recognition of her outstanding contributions as head of the department of statistics from 2011–2016.

Montse has authored more than 100 scientific publications and served as principal investigator (or co-PI) on more than 20 research grants, with total funding of more than $25 million. She is the principal investigator and director of the Research Network for Statistical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, funded by the National Science Foundation.

In 2008, Montse was named an ASA Fellow for outstanding contributions to research in spatial statistics. She also received the Scientific and Technological Achievement Award offered by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2012 for the development of an air quality model evaluation framework that fosters scientific credibility for model applications. She was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Achievement in 2017 by the ASA Environmental Statistics Section for major statistical methodology contributions, leadership, and mentoring roles.

Montse was born and raised in the northern part of Spain, Asturias, also called Spain’s natural paradise, where she developed a love for nature. She studied music and piano performance. Music has always been an important part of who she is and a way to express herself. She also studied math; the logic in math always helped her make sense of the world around her. Then, through fellowships and opportunities to study abroad, she ended up in the United States. She developed an interest in statistics as a way to transform data into knowledge, with a commitment to applying that knowledge to environmental problems that cultivate her love for nature.

Montse earned a PhD in statistics from The University of Chicago under the direction of Michael Stein, and she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

She was awarded the NC State 2013 Equity of Women Award for major contributions to the equity and well-being of women. As a dean now, promoting inclusive excellence and bringing leadership opportunities and career success to women and minorities is a priority for her.