Brian D. Marx

Brian D. Marx, an outstanding professor in the department of experimental statistics at Louisiana State University, passed away November 25, 2021, at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, surrounded by his wife, Alexandra; his son, Leopold; and his mother, Diana.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1960, Brian earned a BS in physiology from Michigan State University in 1982, an MA in statistics from Penn State in 1984, and a PhD in statistics from Virginia Tech in 1988. He joined the department of experimental statistics in 1988 as an assistant professor and climbed swiftly and steadily through the ranks to become professor of statistics in 1999. During his tenure, he was the major professor to more than 60 MA students. At the same time, he was the recipient of two awards for teaching excellence.

Brian had a distinguished career with important and lasting contributions to statistics, particularly in nonparametric smoothing and signal regression. He is one of the two co-founders of penalized B-splines (also called P-splines), a powerful and flexible smoothing tool and signal regression method widely used in areas such as chemometrics. According to Google Scholar, the landmark paper by Paul Eilers and Brian Marx (1996) has been cited more than 3,800 times.

Brian was active in all aspects of the statistical community, including teaching, consulting, researching, mentoring, refereeing papers, doing editorial work, and sometimes taking over administrative duties. He also exercised the duties of secretary, vice president, and president of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Statistical Association. His vita references 80 refereed journal articles and 25 refereed proceeding publications in which he was a primary author or co-author. He was the author of three books, the latest one being Practical Smoothing: The Joys of P-splines (2021, Cambridge University Press), a jewel that just appeared in print. He is also one of the leading contributing authors for the JOPS (Joys of P-splines) R package, a companion to his latest book.

Brian was a passionate speaker. He was a visiting lecturer at Stanford University (1994–1995) and Utrecht University, Netherlands (1995). He gave talks and taught short courses at numerous meetings and colleges in the US. He also traveled extensively to Europe, where he gave lectures and taught short courses in most EU countries.

Brian was an initiator and an editor and coordinator editor of the journal Statistical Modelling since 2000. He was a strong supporter of the International Workshop on Statistical Modelling and faithfully attended the yearly event since 1989, organizing the 1998 workshop held in New Orleans. In acknowledgment of his contributions to statistics, Brian was named an elected member of the International Statistical Institute in 2017 and a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2018.

In working with Brian, one would soon realize he was an early bird, doing his share of the work on time or earlier than expected. It seems to us he also left this world way too early. We will miss him immensely as a friend and as a collaborator.

Ron LaPorte

ASA member Ronald E. LaPorte, age 72, died on October 30, 2021.

Ron’s epidemiologic career was accidental, rather than a carefully planned process. While completing his PhD in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh in 1976, his chair—who Ron had never met—informed him of an opportunity for a post-doc fellowship in epidemiology under the tutelage of Lew Kuller, who was building a research program. Though knowing nothing about epidemiology upon meeting Kuller, Ron was entranced by his inquisitive, stimulating nature and the somewhat chaotic appearing office cluttered by books, papers, and assorted travel items. It was a perfect match for Ron, enabling him to pursue his thirst for acquiring and spreading knowledge. He immediately delved into epidemiologic research with a fervor that never diminished.

Focusing first on Lew’s CVD interests, Ron examined the benefits of not only activity (Ron was himself a regular jogger) but also alcohol showing the positive effect on the emerging “good” HDL cholesterol. He proposed to the American Heart Association Epidemiology Council in the early 80s at its annual meeting that alcohol intake should be considered a possible cardiovascular preventive strategy. While he was pilloried for such a brash suggestion at the time, most authorities have since accepted the cardiovascular benefits of low-moderate alcohol consumption.

Ron later challenged the physical activity world when he proposed that duration of moderate intensity activity might be more beneficial to the public’s health than high-intensity workouts. These were examples of Ron being ahead of his time, another being his early recognition of the imminent decline of printed medical journals with his prophetic 1995 BMJ paper, “The Death of Biomedical Journals.”

In his retirement and before his terminal illness (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition as rare as Ron) prevailed, Ron remained active with his life’s mission of spreading knowledge. For example, he worked with Ismail Serageldin, the founding director of Bibiotheca Alexandrina, the Library of Alexandria, to establish a research methodology component for which he again asked scientists across the world to donate epidemiology/statistical textbooks not currently being used and arranged for them to be shipped to Egypt. They are now made available by various means to any needing African student.

Ron was the role model of mentors, and his students gained because of it. He gave it his all and required that his mentees did the same as they worked to develop their successful careers. In return, he desired nothing more than that his mentees pay it forward when training their own students.

Ron is survived by his loving wife, Jan Dorman, of 24 years and a sister, Susan Bennett, along with her husband, Jerry, and their children, Timothy and Jennifer Bennett.

Read more about LaPorte’s legacy and work.