Jay Bartroff
Jay Bartroff, ASA member and professor and associate chair of the statistics and data sciences department at The University of Texas at Austin, and his former PhD advisee Jinlin Song of Analysis Group recently received the 17th Abraham Wald Prize in Sequential Analysis for their paper, “Sequential Tests of Multiple Hypotheses Controlling False Discovery and Nondiscovery Rates.” Their achievements were celebrated at the International Workshop in Sequential Methodologies in Orem, Utah, in May.
The Abraham Wald Prize in Sequential Analysis honors the best publication in sequential analysis each year. Established in 2004, the prize is named for statistician Abraham Wald, who founded the sequential analysis field.
James J. Cochran
ASA Founder and Fellow James J. Cochran was recently selected by the American Society for Quality Statistics Division as the recipient of the 2023 William G. Hunter Award.
Cochran’s research focuses on problems at the interface of statistics and operations research, and he has taught a wide variety of statistics and operations courses—from introductory courses to PhD seminars.
Cochran was honored to receive the award and said it award was particularly meaningful “because this award was established over 30 years ago to recognize the many contributions Hunter made through promoting statistical thinking and the use of applied statistics in an amazingly wide variety of roles.”
Cochran was a founding co-chair of Statistics Without Borders and a member of the founding committee for INFORMS Pro Bono Analytics initiative. He is also the 2015 recipient of the Karl E. Peace Award for Outstanding Contributions for the Betterment of Society, the 2017 recipient of the Waller Distinguished Teaching Career Award, and the 2018 INFORMS President’s Award.
While receiving the award, Cochran said he and Hunter “share concern for the quality of life, statistical capacity, and development of statistics communities in smaller and less wealthy nations.” He continued, “Dr. Hunter and I also feel strongly that statistics is the embodiment of the scientific method and is therefore the foundation of all other sciences. I owe a great debt to our discipline, too.”
In closing, Cochran said, “Today and every day, I am thankful that I found statistics and that statistics found me.”
The William G. Hunter award was established by the statistics division in 1987 to recognize the many contributions of its founding chair to promoting the use of applied statistics and statistical thinking. The attributes that characterize Hunter’s career—consultant, educator for practitioners, communicator, and integrator of statistical thinking into other disciplines—are used to help decide the recipient.
Visit the award website to view past recipients of the Hunter Award and watch Cochran’s talk.
Ronald LaPorte
The late Ronald LaPorte, a University of Pittsburgh emeritus professor of epidemiology and role model to many, became enamored with the internet in the 90s. He quickly realized the enormous potential the World Wide Web offered to deliver education and knowledge to the masses, which led him to establish “Supercourse”—a collection of lectures from leading experts on all aspects of public health.
This past October, in honor of LaPorte’s 75th birthday, the Supercourse Team created a playlist of lectures—each one a birthday present to LaPorte. Reflecting on his pioneering spirit, colleague Thomas Songer remarked, “Ron’s birthday reminds me of his early adoption of new technologies—BITNET, vibrant slides, PowerPoint, the Supercourse model, and of course, the internet. Today, I’m struck by the advent of artificial intelligence. Ron would have undoubtedly explored how to leverage AI for public health education. The beauty of AI is that it likely encompasses insights from all the Supercourse lectures. As we integrate AI into our endeavors, a piece of Ron’s vision lives on. Well done, Ron!”
The playlist includes lectures such as “How to Write a Scientific Paper” and “COVID-19 Pandemic: Four Year Review. Decoding the Pandemic.”
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