At The Ohio State University, multiple faculty members invested significantly in Brian Millen’s development. These individuals expanded Millen’s statistical thinking, supported his goals, celebrated his successes, and coached him through every low point. Consequently, Millen became an advocate for diversity and inclusion and is past chair of and current adviser to the ASA Committee on Minorities in Statistics and founder of the JSM Diversity Workshop and Mentoring Program.
Celebrating Black History Month 2020
Dionne Price
Dionne Price always enjoyed applied mathematics in school, but it was the chance to intern for the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke that sparked her love of biostatistics. Now at the FDA, she provides leadership to statisticians involved in the development and application of methodology used in the regulation of anti-infective, anti-viral, ophthalmology, rare diseases, urology, and reproductive drug products. She also writes poetry, including “The Journey” here.
Lorin Crawford
While Lorin Crawford was writing his honors thesis on semigroup theory, he decided he no longer wanted to work on pure math problems but instead wanted to focus on more immediate real-world applications. Today, as RGSS Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Brown University, his lab includes a mixture of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers in applied math, biostatistics, computational biology, and computer science. And even though his work earned him recognition as a member of The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2019, the most rewarding part of his job to him is having the unique opportunity to mentor people with such diverse skill sets, thought patterns, and social backgrounds.
Kimberly Flagg Sellers
Mathematics was always Kimberly Flagg Sellers’s favorite subject, and she recalls wanting a PhD in a math-related discipline at an early age. In fact, she graduated from high school at age 16 and earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics at age 20 on a full academic scholarship. An associate professor of mathematics and statistics at Georgetown University, Sellers is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and an active contributor to efforts to diversify the fields of mathematical and statistical sciences.
Melvin S. Munsaka
Melvin S. Munsaka’s father, a former teacher turned pastor, often hinted to him about medical school, but Munsaka was drawn to mathematics and science and eventually pursued mathematics at the University of Zambia. It was in graduate school that he switched his major to statistics and probability and was awarded a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship to complete his MSc at McGill. Since then, Munsaka has worked for STATPROBE, Takeda Pharmaceuticals (where he received three of the company’s prestigious awards), and AbbVie.
F. DuBois Bowman
F. DuBois Bowman was fortunate to have parents who challenged him to excel academically and an education enriched by many individuals—in graduate school, he benefitted from a strong supporting faculty he still regards as role models and mentors. Now a renowned expert in the statistical analysis of brain imaging data, his research has helped reveal brain patterns that reflect disruption from psychiatric diseases, detect biomarkers for neurological diseases, and depict more individualized responses to therapeutic treatments.
Nolan Terry
Nolan Terry is a proud native of Augusta, Georgia, and a graduate of the University of Georgia. He is vice president and director of manufacturing at Nestlé Purina, where his passion for leading high-performing teams helps support a nearly $10 billion business in the United States. He believes data always tells a story and we have to be willing to listen and take action.
Tommy Wright
An early interest in mathematics shifted slightly when Tommy Wright, then a junior mathematics instructor, was assigned to teach a course in probability and statistics. But as he learned statistics with the students, he discovered what one might do with statistical knowledge, ultimately leading him to graduate study in statistics. Since joining the US Census Bureau in 1996, Wright has led the Center for Statistical Research and Methodology, which focuses on challenges in providing official statistics on the behavior and condition of the nation’s people and businesses.
Tanya Moore
When Tanya Moore first took statistics her junior year in college, she struggled. With the help of her mentor, Nagambal Shah, and adviser, Mark van der Laan, however, she gravitated toward probability and statistics because of their ability to combine math with issues she cared about. Today, she is passionate in her support of women in STEM careers and co-founded the Infinite Possibilities Conference, designed to support, promote, and encourage underrepresented minority women in mathematics.
Darrell Philpot
Darrell Philpot traversed a long career in the pharmaceutical industry, engaging in market research, forecasting, survey sampling, and promotion modeling before becoming senior director of data science and advanced analytics at IQVIA. Over the course of his career, Philpot has felt lucky to have been mentored by his college professor, Kermit Hutcheson, as well as Ken Copland and Paul Wilson.