Donna LaLonde, ASA Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach
Once again, those attending the 2021 Women in Statistics and Data Science (WSDS) Conference realized their goals of celebrating successes, growing influence, building community, and sharing knowledge.
The Caucus for Women in Statistics (CWS) and Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) were founded in 1971, so WSDS 2021 was an opportunity to join their ongoing 50th anniversary activities. Former CWS presidents—Nancy Flournoy, Nancy Gordon, Stephanie Shipp, and Jiayang Sun—joined current president Tomi Mori and executive director Jessica Kohlschmidt for a plenary panel to reflect on the 50-year history of CWS and look to the future.
Mary Gray, who is the founder of AWM and a former president of CWS gave a plenary talk, “Leave No Data Unturned.” Throughout her career, Gray has been an advocate for social justice. She told us, “If you want to help, there are always interesting places to do so. I found myself teaching regression in Fiji, studying school finance in Myanmar, and returning a few times to Iraq.”
These anniversaries were complemented by a plenary presentation celebrating a new initiative. Talitha Washington, who is the inaugural director of the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative and a professor of mathematics at Clark Atlanta University, presented a plenary session titled, “Strategic Leadership in the Pursuit of Data Science for Black Lives.” We learned the new initiative is to provide data-driven solutions to current and emerging societal problems, especially as it pertains to the African American community. We also learned about her outlook on leadership.
Many concurrent sessions continued the WSDS tradition of recognizing both challenges and opportunities.
In the session It’s Never Too Early to Develop Leadership Skills, the following presenters discussed first steps into leadership:
- Alexandra L. Hanlon, Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science, iTHRIV Biostatistics, and Virginia Tech
- Nichole E. Carlson, Center for Innovative Design and Analysis, Colorado School of Public Health
- Leslie McClure, Drexel University
- Dionne Price, Division of Biometrics IV, Office of Translational Sciences, Center for Drug Evaluations and Research, Food and Drug Administration
- Sally C. Morton, Arizona State University
In the panel session Mindful Networking to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Emma Grace Thomas of RAND Corporation engaged colleagues Emma Benn of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Heather Mattie of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Natalie Cheung Rotelli of Eli Lilly and Company in a conversation about how to build and leverage diverse professional networks.
In a session recognizing the Caucus for Women in Statistics inaugural Societal Impact Award, recipient Melody S. Goodman and her colleague Rebecca Betensky spoke about the Quantitative Public Health Data Literacy Training Program and the pipelines into the Quantitative Aging Research Summer Program.
These sessions are examples of the breadth of the WSDS 2021 conference program.
The 2021 conference was supposed to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but was changed to a virtual conference due to COVID-19. Although the format changed, the goals of celebrating successes, growing influence, building community, and sharing knowledge remained and were met.
Meet Us in St. Louis
Did you miss this year’s meeting? Join us next year in St. Louis, Missouri, October 6–8. Submission will be open for concurrent, panel, and poster session abstracts from February 10 – April 15. To stay up to date, sign up for the WSDS mailing list.
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