At the 2024 Joint Statistical Meetings, a panel of statisticians and evaluators, led by Elizabeth Eisenhauer, explored how data-driven insights shape policy and drive meaningful change.

Elizabeth Colantuoni’s love for math and teaching led her to statistics, which she discovered while exploring colleges that offered degrees in actuarial science. She became captivated by experimental design and regression analysis while studying at Virginia Tech. Over the past 25 years, she has built a career in biostatistics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Colantuoni has contributed to research in critical care medicine and patient safety, specializing in longitudinal and multilevel data. She considers her greatest achievement to be the mentorship and education she has provided to students, fellows, and faculty, particularly during her time as the master’s program director from 2015 to 2024.

Eric J. Daza, JEDI Outreach Group chair, shares how vibrant and inclusive the ASA’s JEDI Outreach Group is. He also discusses how members are dedicated to building a more just and equitable world through statistics and data science.

Aurore Delaigle grew up in the French-speaking part of Belgium, where her parents—both high school teachers in mathematics and sciences—influenced her early interest in mathematics.

Yifeng Wang shares how industrial engineering inspired him to pursue advanced studies in statistics and data science. We also welcome many other new ASA members.

The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award recognizes and encourages mentoring junior staff in the statistical community in federal, state, or local government.

How do we measure diversity in a meaningful way? The Gini-Simpson Diversity Index, used by the US Census Bureau, provides a powerful tool to quantify diversity across populations.

Katherine L. Monti’s life has been shaped by variability and a love for mathematics. Born in Chicago and raised in multiple locations, Monti developed an early interest in math. During college summers, she worked for The University of North Carolina Department of Biostatistics, where her work with programming and statistical analysis sparked her interest in biostatistics. Despite initially resisting the idea, Monti eventually earned a PhD in biostatistics from UNC. Her career spanned teaching, industry, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals, and she became known for her humorous and educational in-house newsletters. Monti’s persistence in challenging assumptions led to key successes in pharma. She also made significant contributions to the ASA, serving in several leadership roles. Now retired, Monti reflects on a fulfilling career that perfectly matched her passion for statistics and education.

Elena Grewal’s journey began in New Haven, Connecticut, where the stark contrast between her public elementary school and elite private high school ignited her passion for addressing inequality. Studying ethics, politics, and economics at Yale, she sought solutions through public policy before discovering the power of data while pursuing a PhD at Stanford.

Mei-Cheng Wang’s journey began in Taiwan, where she earned her bachelor’s in mathematics from National Tsing Hua University. In 1981, she moved to the University of California at Berkeley to pursue a PhD in statistics. After completing her PhD, she joined the department of biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, where she has been a faculty member ever since.

Here is the transcript of Ji-Hyun Lee interviewing members of the statistical advisory panel of the journal Nature Medicine.

The Causality in Statistics Education Award was established by Judea Pearl and created to acknowledge the growing importance of introducing core elements of causal inference into undergraduate and lower-division graduate classes in statistics.

The 12th International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS 12) is taking place in Brisbane, Australia, July 12–17, 2026. Abstracts are currently being accepted.

This Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting remarkable women in statistics, biostatistics, and data science. As mentors, educators, and innovators, they’ve shaped the field in countless ways. Read their journeys and learn about their incredible achievements.

Meet Michelle Crosby-Nagy, the fifth science policy fellow of the American Statistical Association.

David Corliss details how the American Statistical Association will continue its work to shape the future of the statistical profession and its members, guided by its mission to “promote the practice and profession of statistics” and vision of “a world that relies on data and statistical thinking to drive discovery and inform decisions.”

SRMS made strides toward student engagement last year with the Government Statistics Section and Social Statistics Section, SRMS awarded five student paper awards. In the coming year, SRMS looks forward to continuing to tackle important themes, including the role of nonprobability data sources and collaborations across sections.

Nalini Ravishanker grew up in Chennai, India, in a huge extended family that nurtured her love for mathematics. Inspired by talks by leading statisticians at the University of Madras, she decided to pursue a PhD in statistics.

ASA member Emery N. Brown, Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, was awarded the nation’s highest recognition for scientists and engineers, the National Medal of Science.

Longtime ASA member Janet Cherry passed away August 17, 2024, from complications of a fall.

The Joint Sections on Statistical Computing and Statistical Graphics announce the 2025 student award winners. Congratulations to Adam Bartonicek, Brian Liu, Shushan Wu, Xinlei Chen, and Nathan Rethwisch!

Brenda Gaydos built a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry. Even though her parents thought college was a waste of money, especially for a girl, Gaydos pursued a degree.

Peggy Carr’s journey began in Cleveland, Ohio, where her family moved during The Great Migration. Carr was the first person of color in executive management at the National Center for Education Statistics and among the first to join the Federal Senior Executive Service.

Lee has three goals for her presidency: enhancing the visibility of the profession; increasing opportunities for ASA members; and diversifying and expanding membership. To do that, Lee hopes to build strong, sustainable bridges between the ASA and other professional organizations and institutions.

When Bailey Fosdick began college at the Colorado School of Mines, she was drawn to science but quickly realized she disliked lab work. Mathematics, however, stood out as the common thread tying her interests together. Seeking a pure math degree, she transferred to Colorado State University, where an introductory coding class sparked an unexpected love for computer science, leading her to double major in both fields. However, it was the COVID-19 pandemic and her work on university and public health modeling teams that reignited her true purpose—solving real-world problems with statistics. Seeking to make a deeper impact, she left academia and is now institute data scientist at GTI Energy. The transition required courage, but it brought immense growth and the fulfillment of seeing her work make a tangible difference.

Nairanjana Dasgupta’s life has been shaped by serendipity and survival. Born under extraordinary circumstances when her mother, at over 40, discovered her pregnancy after needing surgery, the odds of her survival were slim. Growing up on a small university campus near the Himalayas, Dasgupta developed an early love for numbers, logic, and word puzzles. Torn between mathematics and English at 18, she was introduced to statistics and her decision proved to be transformative. She is now a Regents professor at Washington State University and president of the Western North American Region of the International Biometric Society.

Marie Diener-West pursued biology and mathematics at Loyola University of Chicago. It wasn’t until her senior year that a physical chemistry professor suggested graduate school—a simple comment that changed her life.

This year’s prize honored Yoav Benjamini, Daniel Yekutieli, and Ruth Heller of Tel Aviv University for their pioneering work on the false discovery rate—a concept that has transformed how scientists handle multiple hypothesis testing.

Check out professional opportunities from Cleveland Clinic and The University of Texas at Austin.

Shannon Ellis attended King’s College, where she earned a bachelor’s in biology and Spanish while playing Division III sports. A pivotal moment came when her genetics professor, Jeramia Ory, invited her to join his research lab.

This ASQ scholarship is for graduate study of the theory and application of quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, and total quality management.

Qixuan Chen’s journey into statistics was deeply inspired by her father, who pursued a self-taught degree in statistics while managing more than 100 employees, achieving the highest GPA in his class. Growing up on a beautiful island in southeast China, Chen was captivated by his explanation of the bell curve, sparking her passion for the field. She later earned advanced degrees in the United States and developed a research philosophy grounded in problem-driven methods, community engagement, and clear communication. As a dedicated educator and mentor, Chen finds joy in supporting students, believing—like her father—it’s never too late to achieve greatness.

Who is credited with inventing the slide rule? Who founded the International Biometric Society? The answers to these questions—and more—are part of this month’s history in statistics.

Tamara Broderick was recently honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her groundbreaking work with the Office of Naval Research.

Martin Abba Tanner passed away peacefully in Evanston on January 2, after 20 years of fighting cancer. He is survived by his wife, Anat, and his son, Noam.

Alexandra Schmidt was born in Nova Friburgo, Brazil. Her interest in computers started at age 13, when she taught herself programming in Basic.

John Bailer’s ASA story is more than four decades old, and his professional journey has been arm-in-arm with the ASA.

The World Science Scholars program looks for high school or gifted middle school students to compete in program prior to starting university.

Sonia Thomas’s journey into biostatistics began at the University of North Carolina, where a flier in a math class piqued her interest.

Growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia, Elizaveta Levina excelled in math and pursued it in college, though without a clear career plan. It wasn’t until she was assigned to teach an introductory statistics course during her master’s studies that she realized her passion for applying mathematical thinking to real-world problems.

ASA member Scott H. Holan has been selected to serve on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s study panel, “Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery and Innovation: Opportunities Across the Department of Energy.”

Ruixiao Lu was born and raised in China, where her early fascination with numbers and data led her to a career focused on personalized health care. With nearly 20 years of experience, she has contributed to genomics, diagnostics, and clinical trials, aiming to improve patient outcomes.

John Abowd, Fred Hulting, Brian Millen, and Julia Sharp—2025 election candidates for ASA president-elect and vice president—will participate in a town hall via Zoom on March 19 at 4 p.m. ET to give ASA members the opportunity to learn about them and their vision for the ASA.

The 2025 Quality and Productivity Research Conference will be held in Seattle, Washington, from June 15–18.

The ASA announces the candidates for the 2025 election. Voting begins April 1 and runs through April 30. Make sure to check your email for a link to the online voting system.

Statisticians, health researchers, economists, and policy analysts gathered in San Diego this past January for the International Conference on Health Policy Statistics—a premier event advancing statistical innovations to improve health equity.

Thanks to the incredible support of the ASA community, more than $300,000 was raised in 2024 to advance statistics and data science!

Kazeem Kareem from Michigan Technical University received a $300 prize for his project, “Statistics Powers Medical Diagnosis: Disease Detection Using Clustering and Image Segmentation.”

Would you like to win a trophy, publication in Significance, and a presentation slot at the 2025 Royal Statistical Society Conference in Edinburgh?

ASA member Rolf R. Schmitt, deputy director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, recently received the 2024 Robert E. Skinner Jr. Distinguished Transportation Research Management Award for his four-decade career advancing transportation statistics.

The ASA’s extensive awards program recognizes statisticians who have made outstanding contributions to the association and statistical profession through research, teaching, consulting, and service.