ASA Director of Education Martha Aliaga, who passed away October 15, 2011, was a world-renowned educator and statistician, who affected many both personally and professionally by seizing every opportunity to both teach and encourage others to teach. Read more about her life and accomplishments here.

University of Chicago professor emeritus Paul Meier, who exerted a major influence on the application of statistics to medical research, died August 7. He was 87.

Award deadlines and information

Bob Rodriguez, the ASA president-elect and a senior director of R&D at SAS Institute, visited the department of biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh on September 29, 2011. As an invited speaker in the Biostatistical Seminar Series, Rodriguez gave a presentation titled “Business Analytics: Buzzword or Bonanza for the Statistics Profession?” to an audience of about 100 local statisticians and students.

The Boston Chapter’s Statistics Career Day was held at the University of Massachusetts Boston Campus Center. This event was planned to nurture interest in statistics and its use in fields such as public health, finance, sports, and marketing, as well as to inform students how to prepare for a career in statistics.

The Biometrics Section is seeking contributed and topic-contributed papers for JSM 2012, as well as applicants for the David P. Byar award. Read to find out how to submit an application.

College of Charleston President P. George Benson was recently named the recipient of the 2011 Milliken Medal of Quality from the South Carolina Quality Forum.

J.D. Williams, 2011 chair of the Quality and Productivity Section, wraps up the year with a summary of accomplishments.

The Section on Statistics in Epidemiology invites applications from young investigators who will be presenting papers at the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings in San Diego, California.

Steve Cohen lists the highlights of the Survey Research Methods Section and thanks section officers for their work.