This issue covers Google’s death-search data; a statistical look at the “beer mile”; and pieces on prison remand, mass shootings, kurtosis, and misleading data practices.
Using Data to Support Humanitarian Action in Global Conflict Zones
This piece surveys how UN agencies, Statistics Without Borders, the Human Rights Data Analytics Group, and other Data for Good organizations use data and analytics to support people in conflict zones.
Shape the Future: Invited Session Proposals Sought for JSM 2027
Fanni Natanegara calls for JSM 2027 invited session proposals, covering paper/panel sessions, memorial sessions, posters, and introductory overview lectures.
Before the Model: The Statistician’s Role in Framing Decisions Proactively
Framing the right problem—illustrated through the Fish and Wildlife Service’s eagle-permitting processes—is the crucial first step of the decision-making process and a skill statisticians should apply in any collaboration.
David Swanson Receives Sheps Award for Demographic Methods
David Swanson, professor emeritus at UC Riverside, has received the award for his influential contributions to demographic methodology, including the cohort change ratio method.
Ofer Zeitouni Awarded 2026 Paul Lévy Prize in Probability Theory
Ofer Zeitouni was awarded the prize for his work on large deviations theory, random matrices, and related fields.
Sally Morton Named Among Top 10 Women Leaders in Education
Sally Morton, ASA Founder and Fellow, was recognized for her career spanning statistics, research leadership, and national policy.
2026 Rousseeuw Prize Awarded to R Project
Five members of the R Core Team have been awarded the 2026 Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics for decades of work building and maintaining R as free, open-source software.
Obituary: Arthur Pentland Dempster
Arthur Pentland Dempster, longtime Harvard statistics professor who developed the EM algorithm and Dempster-Shafer theory of belief functions, died on January 30, 2026, at age 96, leaving a lasting mark on statistical inference and fields from machine learning to artificial intelligence.
This Month in Statistics History: Spotlight on Statistical Ecology
The column traces the development of statistical ecology from 1902 to 1969, highlighting key milestones and figures—from early significance testing and random-walk models to biodiversity indices and pioneers like Charlotte Kipling and E. C. Pielou.