Becky McNeil’s enchantment with statistics and mathematical modeling began during her undergraduate studies, when she learned about ecological models and population dynamics. After completing her undergraduate degree in mathematics and biology, she took a job in billing at a pharmacy that served long-term care facilities. This was her first exposure to raw data—the stories of health told by billing records—and those stories sparked a deep interest in using mathematical tools to improve health. Eventually, McNeil earned her graduate degree in biostatistics and additional training in epidemiology and bioinformatics. She is now a research statistician at RTI international.

Middleton took on the role of chair of the LGBTQ+ Advocacy Committee in January and has been working to make the statistical community an inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ data scientists and statisticians.

Nominate an early- to mid-career statistician for the Gertrude Cox Award by February 28.

The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics acts as a facilitator, coordinator, and disseminator by connecting producers of official statistics with essential stakeholders such as policymakers, program planners, researchers, and businesses.

Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, a professor in the department of biostatistics at Virginia Commonwealth University, was selected as the 2020 recipient of the Gertrude M. Cox Award.

Stephanie Zimmer grew up near Charlotte, North Carolina, and developed an interest in statistics when she took AP Statistics in high school while attending the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. After finishing her studies at Iowa State, she joined RTI International in Durham, North Carolina, as a research statistician. There, she works on many projects, including surveys of prisoners, prisons, law enforcement agencies, and victims. She enjoys mentoring other statisticians in her group, particularly in learning R.

The Jeanne E. Griffith Award recognizes individuals working in federal, state, and local government agencies for their efforts to mentor junior statistical staff.

Donations to the Jones scholarship fund will be used to provide scholarships to one or more outstanding undergraduate students pursuing a degree in statistics or mathematics within the college of sciences.

Rachel Harter was inspired to study statistics during an internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Being an academic was not her calling, so she jumped at the chance to work as a survey statistician. Now she oversees the statistical work on RTI’s largest survey project.

The National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) simultaneously celebrated the 20th anniversary of its creation and the 10th anniversary of the formation of its affiliates program.
The pre-history of NISS goes back to a 1984 meeting of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at Lake Tahoe. There, a number of visionaries realized how much the statistical sciences would benefit from deeper engagement in cross-disciplinary research and that an institute was a key component to making this happen. A proposal was sent to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a panel study on cross-disciplinary research. The resulting report, coauthored by Ingram Olkin and Jerome Sacks, was published in 1988.