Virginia Tech has appointed Ron Fricker as interim dean for the college of science.
Fricker joined Virginia Tech in 2015 as head of the department of statistics and most recently served as the senior associate dean in the college of science. Before coming to Virginia Tech, he was a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
“Ron is an outstanding academician and leader who understands the important role the college of science plays in the university achieving its strategic goals and priorities,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke. “He has earned the respect of faculty and staff and has the knowledge and experience to effectively lead the college during this important transition.”
Fricker’s research focuses on performance of various statistical models for use in disease surveillance and statistical process control methodologies in general. He is the author of Introduction to Statistical Methods for Biosurveillance and co-author with Steve Rigdon of Monitoring the Health of Populations by Tracking Disease Outbreaks: Saving Humanity from the Next Plague. The latter was published earlier in February of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.
Fricker is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Statistical Association, a former chair of the ASA Section of Statistics in Defense and National Security, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. Recently, he joined the National Academies’ Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics.
For more information about Ron’s new appointment, visit the Virginia Tech Daily website.
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