James Landwehr, chair of the board of trustees for the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), recently announced Mary Ellen Bock, Lee Wilkinson, and James Thomas as the recipients of this year’s NISS distinguished service awards. The awards were presented by Alan Karr, director of NISS, at the NISS/SAMSI reception held on August 2 at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Established in 2005, the distinguished service awards recognize individuals who have given extraordinary service that significantly advanced NISS and its mission. As Karr put it, “The awards recognize people who didn’t have to do what they did, but … did it because they care so deeply about NISS.”
Bock received the award in recognition of her many years of service to NISS, including serving on the board of trustees and the executive committee for multiple terms; her seminal role in the formation of the affiliates program; and chairing the awards committee for the past two years. Bock also was involved with the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI), most recently as a member of the search committee for the new director, which also has benefited NISS.
Wilkinson served as chair of the affiliates committee for more than seven years, as vice chair of the board of trustees for four years, and as a member of the executive committee for more than six years. He helped coordinate several workshops for NISS and played a key role in forming the affiliate clusters throughout the past few years.
Thomas has served NISS and SAMSI with many complicated computing and communications needs for the past 10 years. He has literally been available “24/7,” coming to work at various hours of the day and night, whenever a computing problem needed to be solved.
The names of Bock, Wilkinson, and Thomas will be added to a plaque displayed in the lobby of the NISS building in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
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