Affiliation: Professor Emerita, The University of Texas at El Paso

Educational Background: PhD and MS, Mathematics, University of California at San Diego; BS, Mathematics, California State University, Fullerton

Joan Georgette Staniswalis, professor emerita at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and a fellow of the American Statistical Association, was born at Fort Lewis, Washington, to John G. Staniswalis (US Army) and Ida M. Staniswalis on July 25, 1957. During her father’s frequent overseas postings, Joan, her mother, and her sister resided in Panama City, Panama. Joan was deeply rooted in both Panamanian and US culture. Her fluency in the customs and languages of two lands—combined with her exceptional intelligence, spiritual sensitivity, and generosity—made her a beloved mentor to legions of students, colleagues, and co-parishioners.

Staniswalis was educated at California State University, Fullerton (BS, mathematics) and the University of California at San Diego (MS and PhD, mathematics). She had a distinguished and varied career as a statistician, making significant contributions to theory and biomedical applications, the latter a product of her experience on the faculty of The Medical College of Virginia. She came to UTEP in 1990, where she soon rose to the rank of full professor. Her experience at UTEP led to an interest in environmental applications such as the health effects of air pollution and the use of ecological inference to study ethnic disparities in health outcomes.

At UTEP, Staniswalis served as director of the NIH-funded Border Biomedical Research Center and director of the Statistical Consulting Laboratory. Her many accomplishments were recognized by the statistical community with her election as fellow of the American Statistical Association. Her citation reads, “For important contributions to nonparametric regression and its application to biomedical research; for collaborative research accomplishments and administrative leadership in consulting; for mentoring of students and junior researchers.”

Even after her 2016 retirement, Staniswalis continued her mentoring activities, graduating her final PhD student in December 2017 and embarking on an ambitious mathematics tutoring project to enhance opportunities for re-entry into society by inmates at the Doña Ana County Detention Center.

The practice of mercy, through works both corporal and spiritual, was instinctual to Staniswalis. She had high standards, none higher than those to which she held herself, and her corrective advice, while always sincere, could be wilting. Remembered best, however, is her smile—which, in its warmth and nurturing power—eclipsed the tropical Panamanian sun.

Staniswalis died peacefully on April 13, 2018. A fund in her name was established at UTEP to assist statistics graduate students with travel to conferences, an activity so important to Staniswalis that she would rent a university van to drive students as far away as San Diego.