Stephanie Shipp and Beth Kilss, Jeanne E. Griffith Award Selection Committee
On the afternoon of June 17, Kevin Cecco of the Internal Revenue Service and Lillian Lin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were presented with the Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award in the conference center of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This year marked the first time in the award’s seven-year history that two winners were chosen, as well as the first time the ASA’s Government Statistics Section oversaw the award selection process. The audience of approximately 60 attendees comprised colleagues, family, and friends of Jeanne Griffith and both awardees, as well as the members of the award selection committee and Interagency Council on Statistical Policy.
The Winners
Kevin Cecco is chief of the Corporation Statistics Branch of the Statistics of Income Division (SOI) of the Internal Revenue Service. He has been a supervisory statistician/mathematical statistician at SOI for more than 10 years. Cecco earned his BS in mathematics from Bloomsburg University and has completed several graduate courses in statistics from the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. Prior to working at SOI, he was a mathematical statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau from 1990–1995 and General Motors Acceptance Corporation from 1988–1990.
Award Committee Members
The Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award committee is composed of six members who each serve a six-year term. Andy Orlin serves as emeritus member, thus providing continuity and historical perspective.)
Carol House, National Agricultural Statistics Service (through 2015)
Emerson Elliott, National Center for Education Statistics (through 2014)
Stephanie Shipp, Science and Technology Policy Institute (through 2013)
Clyde Tucker, Bureau of Labor Statistics (through 2012)
Dan Kasprzyk, Mathematica Policy Research (through 2011)
Beth Kilss, IRS, Statistics of Income, retired (through 2010)
As chief of SOI’s Corporation Statistics Branch, Cecco manages staff who sample, edit, and produce critical tax statistics associated with active domestic corporations. These data are then analyzed and disseminated on SOI’s web site, known as Tax Stats, and through SOI’s Corporation Complete Report and Corporation Source Book. In his previous position, Cecco supervised a group of mathematical statisticians who provided general statistical consulting services for more than 90 projects throughout the IRS. His areas of expertise include statistical consulting, sample estimation, quantifying sampling variability, and producing performance measurement indicators.
Cecco regularly asks staff members about their career goals and works with them to develop strategies to attain them. He revisits these periodically, assessing progress and refocusing as needed. Staff recognition is also important to Cecco, and he often goes above and beyond to acknowledge his staff members’ important contributions. As a result, employees have frequently responded with extra effort. Outside the office, Cecco has volunteered his time for school science fairs and career days. A guidance counselor at an elementary school wrote that Cecco “demonstrates a passion for mentoring students and instilling in them a desire to reach higher goals.” A principal of another school acknowledged Cecco’s “enthusiasm and love of statistics” and said he was “creative and willing to share his expertise.”
Tom Petska, who recently retired as director of SOI and who nominated Cecco for the award, spoke briefly during the ceremony:
Kevin’s outstanding abilities and accomplishments as a mentor include devoting quality time to each new employee to learn about their strengths and personal interests; teaching basic statistical skills, team protocol, and how to mitigate tough situations and tough customers so employees will eventually lead their own projects; and pairing each new employee with a senior staff member of the team so they can learn and develop.
Cecco, in conveying his thanks, talked about the five ingredients for creating an ideal mentoring environment: trust; carving out the necessary time to devote to your employees; a caring attitude; an understanding of the differences between an employee’s skills, knowledge, and talent; and knowing when to let go. “In time, the mentee becomes a peer of sorts, and eventually, in some cases, the mentee grows in a particular direction where he/she becomes the teacher of the mentor …,” said Cecco. “Over the course of time, they have become experts in various statistical areas. When this happens, the mentor knows he/she has accomplished their job.”
Lillian S. Lin is a mathematical statistician in the Division of HIV and AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lin has served as the lead mathematical statistician for the Statistical Science Team in the Quantitative Sciences and Data Management Branch since 2002. Under her leadership, 12 statisticians collaborate with scientific researchers and program officials throughout the division. Lillian also regularly organizes continuing education activities for statisticians at CDC.
After earning her master’s degree, Lin began her career as a biostatistician at the Harvard School of Public Health. This experience inspired her to further her education at the University of Washington, where she earned a PhD in biostatistics. Lin then taught biostatistics for six years at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. During this time, she collaborated with behavioral and social scientists, epidemiologists, and clinician researchers.
Sherri L. Pals stated in her nominating letter that one of Lin’s greatest strengths as a mentor is her ability to help junior staff develop the skills to collaborate with other scientists. Pals said Lin is “quick to provide support, motivation, and help with problemsolving.” She continued, “Lillian frequently encourages those of us on her team to participate in opportunities for training and growth, and she also takes an active role in providing these opportunities.”
Lin’s supervisor, Timothy Green, said, “She has nurtured each new staff member, helping him or her to focus on role definition and to become productive, respected contributors to scientific projects throughout the division.” He also noted that she has worked diligently “to encourage her staff to present their work at professional meetings, attend relevant trainings and conferences, and develop nonstatistical skills such as oral and written communication.”
Others who work with Lin said she is an advocate for continuing education, supports and fosters both the statistical and personal growth of junior statisticians, takes time to listen to her employees and values what they say and feel, plans ahead and tries to improve the work environment in which her team operates, and builds links across the statistical community at CDC.
Green, who was unable to attend the ceremony, wrote a note congratulating Lin and saying the following:
Several years ago, as we were in the process of removing the “acting” from your title, I was asked by a member of the senior division leadership, “Is she the best statistician available?” Before I could answer, Janssen, then our division director, put it perfectly: “That’s not what’s most important. What is most important is that she is the best possible team leader who happens to be a very competent statistician.” The subsequent years and experiences we have shared together have proven the truth of his statement and the wisdom of our decision. Please don’t leave until I retire!
Lin, in her comments upon receiving the award, said the following:
I commend the sponsors for supporting this award, as mentoring is not taught in graduate school, yet we all need mentoring. As a statistician, I didn’t want to be redundant. My additional thought is that mentoring is not only about offering ideas on achieving goals, but also helping someone understand their own growth edge. Most statisticians are eager to develop their technical skills. It’s harder for us to understand the importance of other abilities, such as listening, negotiation, role definition, accurate but palatable explanation of subtle ideas to nonstatisticians, bridging cultural or interdisciplinary differences, and eliciting the scientific or political context of our technical contributions. These areas have presented and continue to present the greatest challenges for me as a statistician and as a mentor. The irony is that I find I have grown in my ability to meet these challenges as I have sought to mentor these abilities in others.
The Ceremony
The award ceremony was conducted by Emerson Elliott, Katherine Wallman, Andy Orlin, Stephanie Shipp, and Beth Kilss. Elliott, former U.S. Commissioner of Education Statistics, chaired the ceremony. Wallman, chief statistician at the Office of Management and Budget and chair of the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, introduced the awardees and members of the audience. She also talked about the award during its early life. Andy Orlin, Jeanne E. Griffith’s spouse, talked about Griffith and the motivation behind setting up the award. He said there was no better way to remember her than to establish a mentoring award program that continues to nurture, educate, and create quality leadership capabilities in junior staff in the federal statistical agencies, the section of the federal government in which she was so proud to have worked. Shipp, senior researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, described the transition of the award process to the Government Statistics Section. Kilss, formerly of the IRS, presented Cecco’s award and read his citation. Elliott did the same for Lin. The ceremony concluded with a celebration of the awardees and a celebration of Wallman’s birthday.
The History
Jeanne E. Griffith worked for more than 25 years in the federal statistical system. Throughout her career, and especially in her senior management positions at the National Center for Education Statistics and National Science Foundation, one of Griffith’s highest priorities was to mentor and encourage junior staff to learn, grow, and recognize and seize career opportunities. After her death from breast cancer in 2001, the Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award was set up to honor her memory by encouraging mentoring of junior staff in the federal statistical system.
Each year, awardees are presented a plaque with a tree engraved in the center. Orlin said that in designing the plaque, the committee was looking for a symbol that would represent the mentoring and training function. They finally hit upon a tree with its branches and leaves. From the sturdy, well-seasoned, and developed trunk emanate branches and leaves, the latter being nurtured and supported by the strength of the trunk. Over time, young, fragile branches become strong outgrowths of the tree and begin to sprout new branches. Branches and leaves fall and are replaced by new leaves and branches, and the process repeats itself, beginning anew. Also, as the leaves and fruit fall from the tree, they result in the growth of new trees.
When Griffith died in August of 2001, Orlin planted a Japanese maple sapling in their backyard as a living memory of her. Though planted in ground made of clay and rock, he hoped the sapling would grow into a tall, beautiful, hardy tree. And over the years, it has thrived and done so. The tree is now a healthy 12–15 feet tall.
Past Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award Winners
2008 – Rosemary D. Marcuss, Bureau of Economic Analysis
2007 – Stephanie Shipp, National Institute of Standards and Technology
2006 – Martin O’Connell, U.S. Census Bureau
2005 – Renee Miller, Energy Information Agency
2004 – Beth A. Kilss, Internal Revenue Service
2003 – Rich Allen, National Agriculture Statistical Service
Transition to the GSS
In 2007, Orlin and Elliott—two of the award’s founders—approached the Government Statistics Section (GSS) about managing the award. When they met with the section’s board, there was no hesitation in taking on the leadership role; in fact, there was much enthusiasm and delight in being asked. Carol House was chair of the section at the time, and ASA Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Steven Porzio and ASA Chapter and Sections Coordinator Monica Clark were instrumental in ensuring a smooth transition.
The Government Statistics Section will not only administer the award process from now on, but will—as a priority—raise the visibility of the award by emphasizing the importance of mentoring across the federal government, and particularly the federal statistical community.
Sponsoring the Award
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) and American Educational Research Association (AERA) joined GSS in providing financial support for the award. Members of the award committee would like to thank Ed Spar of COPAFS and Felice Levine of AERA for their generous support. Other sponsors for 2009 include the ASA’s Social Statistics Section, Washington Statistical Society, and Interagency Council on Statistical Policy.
GSS is seeking long-term corporate sponsors to help increase the amount of the honorarium and to allow for more awards to be given. The section will continue to raise funds each year until a sufficient amount is raised to make the award self-sustaining. Contact Stephanie Shipp at sshipp@ida.org if you would like to be a supporter.
Nominations for the 2010 Award
Nominations for the 2010 Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award will be accepted beginning in January. Look for an article in Amstat News toward the end of 2009 that will describe the nomination process. Also, check out the newsletters and listservs of the Washington Statistical Society for information.
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