Iowa State University

The ink was barely dry on Nell Sedransk’s PhD when she joined the department of surgery at the University of Wisconsin and assembled a clinical trials statistical center for cancer research. Spending time at the radiologist’s elbow, she learned the boundaries of a lung tumor are not sharp and distinct, exact repetition of an X-Ray is technically not possible, and the best in the world cannot measure without error. Later, she took research leadership appointments at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) and National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). At NIST, she became part of the multidisciplinary team overseeing modeling to determine the cause and process of the World Trade Center collapse. At NISS, she focused on research, mentoring, and program building. She has always wanted to keep learning; being a statistician has fulfilled that wish.