Members of the Rao Prize Committee are accepting nominations for the C. R. and Bhargavi Rao Prize for Outstanding Research in Statistics. The prize, awarded by the Penn State Department of Statistics, was established to recognize outstanding and influential innovations in the theory and practice of mathematical statistics, international leadership in directing statistical research, and pioneering contributions by a recognized leader in the field of statistics.
The Rao Prize is awarded in odd-numbered years to an individual selected by the members of the Rao Prize Committee. The honoree receives a plaque and an invitation to visit Penn State to give a talk.
Nominations should include a letter describing the nominee’s outstanding contributions to leadership and research in statistics, a current curriculum vita, and two supporting letters.
Submissions are due January 15, 2027, and should be emailed to Nicole Lazar, head of the department of statistics.
C. R. Rao held the Eberly Chair in Statistics at Penn State from 1988 to 2001 and then served as holder emeritus from 2001 until his passing in 2023. He won the International Prize in Statistics in 2023. A President’s National Medal of Science Laureate, Rao is recognized worldwide as a pioneer of modern statistical theory and one of the world’s top five statisticians, with multifaceted distinctions as a mathematician, researcher, scientist, and teacher. His contributions to mathematics and statistical theory and applications have become part of undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, econometrics, and electrical engineering at universities throughout the world.
Recent Rao Prize Honorees
2025: Trevor Hastie, Stanford University
2023: David Siegmund, Stanford University
2019: Grace Wahba, University of Wisconsin, Madison
2017: Donald Rubin, Harvard University
2015: Sir David Cox, University of Oxford
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