Sally C. Morton

Affiliation
Dean, College of Science; Lay Nam Chang Dean’s Chair; and Professor of Statistics at Virginia Tech

Educational Background
Stanford University: PhD, Statistics (1990)
London School of Economics: MSc, Statistics (1984)
Stanford University: MS, Operations Research (1984)
Stanford University: BS, Mathematical Sciences (1983)

About Sally
Sally C. Morton is the daughter of two immigrant doctors who has focused her career on health policy with the objective of using statistics to help patients and their families make better health care decisions. She chose to study statistics because she enjoyed applied mathematics and desired a career with the potential for impact on people’s lives, motivated by the effect her parents had in their medical careers. Her research focuses on evidence synthesis, particularly meta-analysis, and patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. She is the second dean in her family, following her mother in this role.

Sally has worked in both the academic and industrial sectors of statistics—she likes the opportunities the discipline provides to try new challenges and learn. She started her career at the RAND Corporation, where she was head of the Statistics Group. She then moved to RTI International as vice president for statistics and epidemiology. Having enjoyed mentoring and working with early-career statisticians, she moved to academe to have more involvement in education and served as chair of biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to Virginia Tech.

Throughout her career, Sally has committed to leadership in service to others. She was the 2009 president of the American Statistical Association and 2013 chair of Section U (Statistics) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is a Fellow of both organizations. She also has had the chance to participate in national committees in the public policy arena, including the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Methodology Committee, the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics, and several National Academy of Medicine committees.

Sally has been fortunate enough to receive the 2017 Janet L. Norwood Award, the 2015 ASA Founders Award, and the 2013 National Institute of Statistical Sciences Distinguished Service Award.

She is most proud of being the mother of three, the grandmother of three, and the spouse of a wonderful husband. You can follow her on Twitter at @sallycmorton.