Marie Diener-West pursued biology and mathematics at Loyola University of Chicago. It wasn’t until her senior year that a physical chemistry professor suggested graduate school—a simple comment that changed her life.
johns hopkins
Leah Jager
Leah Jager was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her dad was a college mathematics professor and her mom taught middle-school math and English. From a young age, she liked playing school and hoped to someday be a professor like her dad. Jager’s first encounter with statistics occurred during a summer internship in a food lab within the R&D division at Amway Corporation. The goal of her project was to improve the taste of a beverage using varying concentrations of a flavor additive. She never succeeded in making the drink taste better, but she did become interested in statistics. Today, as a statistics and biostatistics professor at Johns Hopkins, she is inspired when she sees a student realize the relevance statistics has in their life.
The Emerging Role for Statisticians and Data Scientists in Community Analytics
President Kathy Ensor looks for ASA members who would like to expand the Big Tent for Statistics and Data Science to include more statisticians and data scientists on the front lines of improving our communities.
Jeffrey T. Leek Wins COPSS Presidents’ Award
The COPSS Presidents’ Award citation recognized Leek for influential work addressing high-dimensional data; for development of empirical tools for data science as a science with applications to meta-research, reproducibility, and replicability; for scaling (bio)statistics-centered data science education to millions of people worldwide; and for leveraging data science tools, educational technologies, and community partnerships to create economic opportunities in under-served communities.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Ogburn
At a young age, Elizabeth Ogburn’s plan was to stay in school forever. In college, she studied philosophy and math and tried everything from epidemiology to data analysis, but nothing stuck. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do until she attended a talk about causal inference and knew that was the perfect fit. Now, as a Johns Hopkins faculty member, she loves being part of the broader causal inference community, with its connections to social science, computer science, theoretical and applied statistics, and, of course, public health.
Free 2019 Seasonal Adjustment Practitioners Workshop Happening in November
This workshop is a one-day conference for those actively involved in seasonal adjustment and related time series methods.
Rising Star Talks About Statistics Journey, Future of the Profession
Throughout her journey, Lucy D’Agostino McGowan says the ASA community has been an asset for her, inspiring and shaping her as a student and now a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins.
What Is Data Science Specialization, and What Can It Do for You?
Acquiring data science and analytics skills and certifications is possible through massive open online courses (MOOCs). A leading MOOC specialization was started by Brian Caffo, Roger Peng, and Jeff Leek of The Johns Hopkins University.





