Katherine Ensor

We offer you an active, engaged community of members just like you, so please get involved.” I wrote this sentence in my welcome to new members. As a longtime member of the ASA, I knew it was true, but now more than half-way through my presidential year, I have a renewed appreciation for all our association has to offer. This may be surprising, but I have learned a lot about the ASA, and I want to share what I’ve learned.

The diversity of our profession is perhaps best represented by the 30+ ASA sections and interest groups. As a member of multiple sections, I’ve benefited from the opportunity to interact with ASA members who share my scientific interests. What I didn’t fully appreciate was the breadth of section activities. Sections organize sessions and continuing education courses at JSM and sponsor conferences, webinars, and awards. Becoming active in a section will help you find community.

Whether you are the only statistician or data scientist in your workplace or a member of a large team, you will benefit from becoming active in a section. Take advantage of the member benefit to add a new section to your membership.

The Houston Chapter is an important part of my professional community, so I’ve personally appreciated the role of chapters. In 2021, the Houston Chapter organized a half-day workshop and invited me to speak. The workshop brought forward exceptional science, but it also provided an opportunity to connect with new members in the Houston area and reconnect with longtime friends.

As ASA president, I’ve read Chapter Chatter through a different lens and have come to appreciate the many ways in which we affect our local communities. Events highlighted in the summer 2022 issue of Chapter Chatter exemplify the diversity of chapter activities. Examples include hosting an ASA DataFest, participating in a regional science and engineering fair, sponsoring an award to recognize a region’s talented undergraduates, and hosting Counsel of Chapters traveling short courses.

I encourage you to seek out your local chapter and become involved. I’m sure you will find colleagues who share both your professional and community service interests.

Before you continue reading, take a minute to guess the number of annual downloads/views of articles published in just two of our journals, namely The American Statistician and the Journal of the American Statistical Association. The numbers are 480K and 652K respectively. No single metric can communicate the value of a journal, but this is exceptional. Looking at these numbers and similar metrics for other ASA publications reinforces for me that access to our science is a significant member benefit.

The ASA publishes 12 journals for which ASA members have free online access and an additional four journals co-published with other societies for which ASA members have access at a reduced rate. By the way, if you are having trouble navigating the new member portal to access the ASA’s journals, watching a short video might help.

As ASA president, I’ve also come to appreciate the challenges associated with representing our profession. Our strategic plan states the following:

I am called on to represent the position of the ASA, a responsibility I share with my colleagues on the ASA Board of Directors. I make a clear distinction when I am speaking for the ASA and when I am expressing my own scientific views.

Our decision-making for making statements about a policy-related issue is guided by the process noted on the ASA website. To issue a public statement is always challenging, but I very much appreciate the ASA’s thoughtful and structured approach.

The ASA also advocates for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation budgets to support our scientific work and follows the developments of the annual appropriations to support the federal statistical agencies. For example, we sent a letter in support of fiscal year 2023 funding for the National Institute of Justice.

In addition to issuing statements and letters, the ASA supports initiatives such as Count on Stats, which works to inform the public, key stakeholders, and influencers about the importance of federal statistics.

The ASA also has more than 60 standing committees that address a wide range of professional issues, select award winners, and advocate for statistics in policy and science. For example, the External Nominations and Awards Committee works with the president and executive director and staff to nominate members for prestigious national and international recognition, as well as government positions. Recent successes include the appointment of Claire Bowen and Ron Prevost to the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and Cynthia Rudin’s successful nomination for the 1 million Artificial Intelligence Prize.

Another important initiative is the Committee on Membership Retention and Recruitment’s focus group effort. The goal is to learn from you about how the ASA can better serve your professional needs. CMMR has conducted several virtual sessions, and more are planned. However, we want to hear from you, even if you are not able to participate in a focus group. Share your feedback with the committee.

I am truly amazed by the dedication to our profession demonstrated by all the committee members and encourage you to check out the magazine’s Committee Spotlight feature to learn more.

I have also come to appreciate how the ASA uses its strategic plan to guide decision-making. One strategic theme is “Ensuring the Future of Our Profession.” Therefore, we have a variety of professional development activities, including short courses at our meetings, webinars, and workshops. One such upcoming workshop is “StatXW: Preparing to Be an Expert Witness,” which will be offered virtually in the fall. Join Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach Donna LaLonde and me to learn about serving as a statistical expert witness.

Professional development also happens informally when members share resources and knowledge via the ASA Community and STATtr@k. The questions asked and answered on ASA Connect are “just in time” professional communication and speak to a vibrant community of statisticians.

I appreciate more than ever the opportunity to attend JSM in person this year. While we have all become experts at virtual communication, it is exceptionally nice to celebrate our community and shared professional contributions and interests face-to-face. It will also be wonderful to meet many of you in person.

I want to close by recognizing those members who recently became ASA Fellows and those who received awards at JSM. Recognition of member contributions and accomplishments is an important component of our community.

As always, I’m honored to serve as your president.