May is graduation month and a great time to reflect on the people who have helped and inspired us along our journeys. Whether it was a grade-school teacher, an undergraduate or graduate professor, or a seasoned statistician, mentors have a big impact on how we navigate the many paths laid before us. Over the last month, the ASA GivesBack team asked members to submit ‘thank-you notes’ to a mentor who made a big difference for them. The following are some of the submissions received.

Chris Bellamy

Chris Bellamy

Submitted by Trudy Beerman
I used analytics in my business as if it were a rearview mirror. Analytics told me if a decision I made was good or needed to be tweaked, but I did not use business analytics to project or influence my decisions. Facebook ads metrics were the trigger to turn off a poorly performing ad, and it never occurred to me to examine the analytics for anything else. My doctoral course at Liberty included business analytics in the lineup for me to get my degree, so it was not a specific choice of mine to take this class. Still, I am grateful to Liberty University for including this course as they groom future leaders.

Bellamy (aka – Dr. B.) brought business analytics to my attention as a way to influence my decisions, not just to justify the ones I had made. With his influence, I now have a new perspective on the value of business data analytics. Of all the classes I have taken on my DSL journey, business analytics has become my favorite, and I have Dr. B. to thank for that. I now view analytics like a magnifying glass or a seat in the Delorean (the name of the time travel car in the movie Back to the Future). Dr. B opened my eyes to see data analytics as an untapped area to create a competitive advantage in my business. This class did not feel like something just to get checked off as done [for] my doctoral degree, but a real opportunity to bring growth to the organizations I serve.

Ana-Maria Staicu

Ana-Maria Staicu

Submitted by Xiaoxia Champon
Ana-Maria Staicu has been my adviser for almost three years. She exemplifies the true meaning of a mentor and offers tremendous support, including—but not limited to—academic advancement, emotional support, and opportunities for professional growth. Given the fact I am a returned graduate student who hasn’t been back to school for 10 years, her personal encouragement, honest guidance, and additional care made it possible for me to not only survive my graduate study, but to thrive. As an adult student, I appreciate clear expectations and directness, both of which Staicu has provided. Staicu acted not only as a wonderful mentor, but also as a good friend. She once asked me to take care of myself, to prioritize my research, and to not stretch myself too thin. It was in those moments I almost felt like she was an “adviser-mom,” someone who wants the best for me and will steer me in the right direction when it’s needed. In my progress report each year, she is honest and direct. It is because of Staicu that I have not only learned to be a good researcher, but have also formed good habits that will lead me to success in the long term.

The greatest things I have learned from Staicu are not necessarily what I have been taught, but rather what I have observed. She is a role model who has shown me how to be a leader. In all the examples given above, she helped me grow in maturity and showed me how to handle complex situations. I have learned that by giving opportunity to others, by providing a safe environment where ideas can be shared honestly, and by expressing true caring, I will make a great impact in any organization. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity to have her recognized.

Monnie McGee

Monnie McGee

Submitted by Micah Thornton
As a former computer engineering student, I was drawn to the potential of data and technology to address complex problems. Pursuing a PhD in biostatistics felt like a natural progression, but I quickly discovered my background did not fully prepare me for the rigors of the program.

I struggled to keep up with my peers, feeling lost and disconnected as they breezed through the material. It was a difficult time, and I wondered if I had made a mistake. But then I met Monnie McGee, a distinguished statistician who was renowned not only for her expertise but also her kindness and willingness to help statistics students. She recognized my potential and took me under her wing, spending countless hours working through problems and concepts with me, answering my questions patiently, and providing guidance and support.

Thanks to McGee’s mentorship, I began to excel in the program. I found a passion for statistical methods and began contributing to the field in meaningful ways. My dissertation focused on using Fourier coefficients for genomic sequences to form phylogenies of viruses, an accomplishment that solidified my place in the biostatistics community.

While my dissertation was not widely recognized, it was an important achievement for me. It represented the culmination of years of hard work and dedication, and it gave me a sense of pride and belonging in the biostatistics community.

Looking back, I realized I never could have achieved my success without McGee’s mentorship and support. She was not only an accomplished statistician, but also a kind-hearted person who made a significant difference in my life. I was grateful for the experience and knew I would always be part of the biostatistics community, a community that embraced me and helped me achieve my dreams.

Tanya Garcia

Tanya Garcia

Submitted by Sarah Lotspeich
Tanya Garcia is absolutely a unicorn. Not only is she strong technically, publishing exciting and impactful biostatistics work, but she is always training to become the best mentor she can possibly be. I feel so truly lucky to have met Tanya as a fresh postdoc because she was there to support me through so many big ups and downs in my early-career life. She shares in her mentees’ joys and the struggles, both in research (like paper rejections) and life in general (like when I got married), and devotes so much of her energy to the people around her. Thank you, Tanya, for everything you do for me, your students, and my students.

Arjun Kumar Gupta

Arjun Kumar Gupta

Submitted by Ying-Ju (Tessa) Chen
I had the pleasure of working with Arjun K. Gupta, my adviser, during my PhD dissertation study on change-point problems at Bowling Green State University. I first met Gupta when I arrived in the United States in 2009 to pursue a master’s degree in statistics. As an international student, I sometimes struggled to understand the course material, but Gupta was always there to help. He had an incredible ability to detect when a student was confused and would check in to see if we had any questions. He was always willing to discuss research studies and encourage us to think for ourselves, rather than give us answers.

Gupta was an exceptional mentor who possessed many wonderful qualities. He was knowledgeable, open-minded, supportive, motivating, and an excellent listener. He recognized my talent and encouraged me to continue my academic journey by pursuing a PhD after completing my master’s degree. Despite his impressive scholarly achievements and recognition in the statistical community, Gupta always treated everyone equally and provided collaboration opportunities whenever possible. He respected every team member’s opinion and appreciated their contributions to the research results.

I will always cherish the memories of working with Gupta. I can still remember the days we spent in his office, working through the proof of a theorem, and the moment when my first article was accepted and we read the email together. He was one of the most influential people in my life. Even though he passed away peacefully on December 25, 2022, I am confident that his multi-dimensional life will continue to inspire others. I will remember him forever, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with such a remarkable adviser.

Rameela Raman

Rameela Raman

Submitted by Jamie Joseph
When I first arrived at Vanderbilt to begin my PhD, I was terrified and felt very isolated. I knew nobody in the higher academic field and nothing about what my path would look like for the next five to seven years. When the director of our program emailed me the summer before beginning the program about a potential research assistantship opportunity, something students usually joined in their second year, I was averse to the idea of adding more stress and uncertainty into the mix. I felt like I was obligated to at least meet with the adviser to discuss the project, though, which is how I ended up in a discussion with Rameela before ever stepping foot on campus. She was kind, interested in me and my life, and straightforward about what the RA would look like and what the expectations were. I also discussed the opportunity with other current students and alumni, all of whom told me in no uncertain terms that working with Rameela was an absolute pleasure and an opportunity that wasn’t to be missed. They were more correct than I can put into words.

I joined the RA after hearing testimony from the other students and, from the start, it became obvious that Rameela was more than just a boss; she was a mentor and someone I could go to with questions or concerns that had nothing to do with our projects. She fiercely protected my time when collaborators would ask too much and made sure my class work for the first two years of the program was prioritized and I never felt overwhelmed. She gave amazing and constructive feedback while making sure to acknowledge everything I had done right, and she emphasized communication and collaboration skills I have found valuable in all other projects I have worked on since first year.

She goes out of her way to send her students opportunities she thinks could be appropriate and helpful and leadership roles she thinks we’d be a great fit for. She starts every meeting, no matter how pressing the work is, by asking about us and our life and checking in on our progress in the program. She is the most responsive person in the entire department and always makes the time for her students when we ask, even though she manages staff and has many other projects she is involved with.

Rameela is my role model in this department, the field of biostatistics, and in life. I can think of nobody more deserving of thanks and accolades than her; she has made such an impact on my career and my life, and I am forever grateful!

Hao Wu

Hao Wu

Submitted by Wenjing Ma
I would like to thank Hao Wu for all the inspiration he has brought to me. He has a very sharp mind and likes to make everything simple and straightforward. With his brilliant ideas and statistical mind set, I have learned a lot from him about how to apply advanced deep learning techniques and statistical learning to single-cell genomics data to develop useful tools for biomedical researchers. His ideas always work and have an elegant form.

He is also supportive of my every career decision. When I mentioned to him that I would like to pursue an academic career, he helped me build connections with other professors in this area and suggested I do a postdoc with them to have more statistical training. He also encouraged me to attend conferences to talk with other people and seek potential collaborations.

Besides academic support, he motivates me to be an independent and responsible researcher. When I was in the early stages of research and always worried about being scooped, he told me to have an abundance mind set and collaborate with people to make the cake bigger, instead of viciously competing with them. Later on, when I became more familiar with my research area, he suggested I do more critical thinking, rather than aimless work. He smoothly shifted the mentoring style from hands-on to hands-off to help build my independence in doing research. Overall, he is a very professional mentor, and I appreciate every effort he has poured into making my PhD grind easier and more fascinating.

Alex Kaizer

Alex Kaizer

Submitted by Wenru Zhou
I am a fifth-year PhD candidate in biostatistics at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Campus. Alex Kaizer is my thesis mentor. My thesis topic is adaptive clinical trial design.

Kaizer has a great personality. He is patient, positive, thoughtful, and grateful. He always thinks about others. Although he has deep knowledge of biostatistics, especially in clinical trial design, he is also very humble. Because of the limitation of words, I will only talk about two important virtues he has.

When I met trouble in my research and the project could not move forward, he did not focus on pushing the project forward. Instead, he encouraged me to develop my independent thinking skills by trying to solve the problem. He is always ready to offer help if I need it. In addition, I gave birth to a baby during my PhD program. Since taking care of a baby is very time-consuming, I cannot even continue my research before sending the baby to daycare. Kaizer cares about the well-being of women and children, and he supports me by letting me decide my pace of research. Alex is willing to do this because he loves research, itself, rather than finishing more projects to get more money, and he wants to train students by developing their interests in research and research skills.

Kaizer facilitates student success. He reviewed my CV, cover letter, and emails for opportunities. This semester, I met some credit issues and needed to postpone my graduation. He agreed to support me with more funding than we discussed before. As an international student, we have many policy limitations on seeking a job and maintaining a visa. Kaizer is always supportive and helpful. Without his help, I could not have successfully found an internship last summer and gain experience at a pharmaceutical company. Without his support, I could not continue my valid status in the US after postponing my graduation.

In summary, Kaizer is a fantastic mentor for students. I am so thankful for everything he has brought to me during this period of my PhD.