While working full time and raising a child, Grace Wahba earned advanced degrees, completing her PhD at Stanford. She pioneered smoothing splines, shaping modern nonparametric regression and leaving a lasting imprint on data analysis and machine learning.
IBM
Nalini Ravishanker
Nalini Ravishanker grew up in Chennai, India, in a huge extended family that nurtured her love for mathematics. Inspired by talks by leading statisticians at the University of Madras, she decided to pursue a PhD in statistics.
Deborah Nolan
While a math student at Vassar, Deborah Nolan was first exposed to statistics during a summer internship during which she helped analyze data from a survey in a women’s magazine about how family life had changed as more women became breadwinners. That experience convinced her to stay away from statistics and stick with the comfortable world of theoretical math. After graduating, she worked for IBM and learned how to code in several languages. It was her work as an applications programmer that brought Nolan back to the world of statistics, and she went on to earn a PhD in the field. Since then, Nolan has earned multiple awards for her dedication to teaching, including the ASA Waller Distinguished Teaching Career Award and Berkley’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She co-developed the first data science course at Berkeley and played a pivotal role in designing the data science major, leading to the establishment of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. Currently serving as the inaugural associate dean, Nolan is instrumental in meeting the growing demand for data science education, with nearly 1,000 students graduating annually with a data science major from Berkeley.
Gabriela de Queiroz
Gabriela de Queiroz initially studied electrical engineering but fell in love with statistics after spending a semester in the US. She went on to complete her master’s in epidemiology and then became a data scientist, intrigued by how statistics and computer science were being used together in industry. Her great passion for sharing knowledge and connecting with people inspired her to create R-Ladies, a group that focuses on bringing more diversity into the R community. She recently started AI Inclusive, whose mission is to increase the representation and participation of gender minority groups in artificial intelligence.
Claudia Perlich
Claudia Perlich was born near Leipzig, East Germany. Her father—having worked on replicating the IBM 360—foresaw that computer-related skills would be in demand, so—on his advice—Claudia studied computer science. Today, she is an adjunct professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and a senior data scientist at Two Sigma. Among the aspects of data science she appreciates most is the subtle skill of trying to find what she calls the “little quirks” in a data set. “It’s like doing detective work,” she says.
Deborah Nolan
A New Year’s resolution brought Debbie to statistics; her love for teaching moved her to want to communicate the story behind statistical analysis. She has written numerous books and, in 2018, was recognized for her excellence in teaching with the ASA’s Waller Distinguished Teaching Career Award.
Bonnie K. Ray
Bonnie Ray always loved mathematics, but it was during a summer internship at Texas Instruments that she began to appreciate the power of computing. She currently leads data science activities at Talkspace, a NYC-based startup that enables improved mental health for all by providing an affordable, accessible, and secure platform for messaging-based psychotherapy.