The original plan for my last president’s column was to provide a recap of my presidential year, assuming it would be business as usual for an ASA president. Needless to say, this has not been a typical year for any of us. While there have been plenty of challenges, I am grateful for the opportunity to be your president and end this year with renewed appreciation of our community. In the spirit of “end of the year” lists, and in no particular order, I want to share my top 10 with you. And you should know it was a challenge to keep the list to 10 because there were so many highlights.
Number 10: Opportunity to Be the Keynote Speaker at CSP 2020
The Conference on Statistical Practice is one I really enjoy attending every year. I had the opportunity to talk about data ethics, which is one of the critical topics for our community (IMHO). This was also the topic of my May Amstat News column.
Number 9: Opportunity to Connect with the International Community of Statisticians, Biostatisticians, and Data Scientists
Although travel was restricted in 2020, I did have the opportunity to spread my wings in the beginning of the year. I was honored to attend the 2nd International Conference on Applied Statistics, which was held at the University of Dhaka Institute of Statistical Research and Training in Bangladesh, where I gave a keynote talk. This was followed by a visit to City University of Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. There, I met with the director-general of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Hiroe Tsubaki, and the president of the Japan Statistical Society, Shigeru Kawasaki. I will continue to make international outreach an important part of my service to the community in the coming years.
Number 8: Opportunity to Interact with Kids
Contributing to education in statistics and data science is an essential responsibility of our profession. Education has been a strategic goal of the ASA for a long time, and our focus in 2020 was on statistical and data science education in the early years (5–11 years of age). One of my fondest memories of this year was the opportunity I had to chat with two middle-schoolers in a Stats + Stories podcast. It is a testament to our strong community relationships that we were able to have this conversation in the midst of the virtual learning required by the pandemic.
Number 7: Opportunity to Serve on the ASA COVID-19 Task Force
Although my colleagues on the ASA Board deserve the credit for their substantive contributions, it was a privilege to serve with them. The board supported the creation of the COVID-19 community and many of you shared your research and resources on the community, as well as during webinars and workshops.
Number 6: Opportunity to Collaborate with Colleagues on the Presidential Initiatives
Not only have I learned a lot while working on the initiatives, I now have a deeper respect for the energy, talent, and spirit of my colleagues. I am looking forward to working with my LGBTQ+ and K–6 friends in the coming year, especially as we work together on 2021 President Rob Santos’ initiatives to build community.
Number 5: Opportunity to Learn About the Amazing Work Accomplished by the Committees That Make Up the Various Councils
Associations like ours depend on volunteers just like you, and I thank all of you for serving. Most of the ASA committees are organized under four councils: Awards, Education, Membership, and Professional Issues and Visibility. Not only was I able to appoint members to committees during my year as president-elect, but I participated in several of their events in 2020. Two of my favorites were the Meeting Within a Meeting for teachers and StatFest, where I participated in a panel on opportunities in statistics and data science.
Number 4: Opportunity to Work with the ASA Staff
My year as president has confirmed what I already knew—our association is well served by the professional staff. All staff are appreciated, as they have worked hard this year dealing with the many challenges we faced. However, I especially want to thank our executive director, Ron Wasserstein, who has been keeping the ASA ship on course. And I cannot thank Donna LaLonde enough. She is not only a colleague, but also a close friend.
Number 3: Opportunity to Choose the JSM Theme
One of the first tasks I had as the 2020 ASA president was to choose the JSM 2020 theme. JSM is one of the premier events for our profession, and the JSM theme is important because it can have an impact on the content of the meetings. I had a lot of fun coming up with a theme with the help of JSM Program Chair David Banks and the ASA Meetings Department staff.
My very next JSM-related task was to select the President’s Invited Speaker. Erica Groshen gave a wonderful talk highlighting the essential role of federal statistics. This led to a World Statistics Day celebration that took place on October 20. We had several wonderful panelists and discussants from around the world who continued the conversation Erica started at JSM. The Harvard Data Science Review is planning a special publication with papers written by the panelists. In case you missed it, you can view the celebration on YouTube.
Number 2: Opportunity to Come Together with My Colleagues at the Virtual JSM
It is definitely a highlight of my year to learn more about the great work we are doing in our profession! It was a challenge for our ASA meetings staff, presenters, exhibitors, and attendees to change from an in-person conference to a virtual one. Everyone stepped up and made it happen, however. It was particularly exciting to be able to meet virtually with statisticians and data scientists from around the world. The map included here shows the locations of viewers of my president’s talk. Although I was nervous, I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you! In case you missed it, you can view the recorded plenary sessions on the JSM website.
Number 1: Opportunity to Serve During a Challenging Time
I have benefited substantially from the ASA community. I am grateful to have had opportunities to give back in small ways. I know all of you are also supporting our profession, our communities, and our families … so thank you. I truly am looking forward to the next part of my ASA journey. It has been an honor to serve as the president of the ASA.
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