PhD candidate Justin Weltz was recently honored with a student travel award from the American Statistical Association Section on Health Policy Statistics for work in collaboration with Angela Yoon, Statistical Science BS '23, Yichi Zhang (Associate Professor, University of Rhode Island), and Duke professors Alex Volfovsky and Eric Laber. Their paper, "Reinforcement Learning for Respondent-Driven Sampling," will be presented in August at the Joint Statistical Meetings. Congratulations for all their hard work! read more about Weltz wins ASA Health Policy Statistics Section Student Paper Award »
Congratulations to MSS alumnus Haoxuan Wang, selected as a winner of the EnviBayes Paper Competition for his work “Annotation Aggregation of Multi-Label Ecological Datasets via Bayesian Modeling.” He will present his paper at the 2025 EnviBayes Workshop at Texas A&M University in October. Haoxuan is currently completing his PhD studies at Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. His MSS research was part of the Lifeplan project in collaboration with Professor David Dunson at Duke… read more about MSS Alum Wang Wins EnviBayes Award »
“One could argue that this started over 25 years ago.” That’s how Steffen Bass described his collaboration with Assistant Professor of Statistical Science Simon Mak. Twenty-five years ago, however, Mak wasn’t even in high school.But this isn’t the story of a teenage prodigy. This is the story of how new tools, developed by a junior scientist thinking outside the box, can shed light on old questions — even if the questions are hidden within something smaller than an atom. Steffen… read more about From Nuclear Collisions to AI: How Machine Learning is Revolutionizing Nuclear Physics »
Ph.D. student Caitrin Murphy is the winner of the first place student paper award in the American Statistical Association’s Medical Devices and Diagnostics Section for her work “Functional Principal Component Analysis for Censored Data” in collaboration with James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Statistical Science Eric Laber and collaborators Rhonda Merwin, Brian Reich and Jake Koerner. The objective of the Section on Medical Devices and Diagnostics (MDD) is to serve Association members with special interests in… read more about Ph.D. Student Caitrin Murphy Wins First Place for ASA Paper »
Postdoctoral scholar Federica Stolf has been awarded an SBSS Student Paper Award for her paper Infinite Joint Species Distribution Models in collaboration with Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor David Dunson. The award is given by the Section on Bayesian Statistical Science (SBSS) of the ASA, which provides a forum for statisticians and people who have interest in the Bayesian paradigm. The broad objectives of the Section are: to encourage research on theory and methods of statistical inference and decision… read more about Postdoctoral Scholar Federica Stolf Receives SBSS Student Paper Award »
Three Duke alumni and a senior have been named Schwarzman Scholars, a program that funds one year of graduate study in Beijing.From an initial pool of nearly 5,000 applicants, they are among approximately 150 Scholars chosen from around the world.Anya Button, Yutao Gong, Hope Jackson, and Jie (Vincent) Liu will develop international leadership skills through the fully funded one-year master’s degree program in global affairs, designed to enable future leaders of the 21st century to engage with China.Scholars are selected… read more about Three Duke Alumni and One Senior Named Schwarzman Scholars for Graduate Study in China »
Congratulations to the four MSS students who were awarded the prestigious Dean's Research Award this semester. This coveted award serves as a springboard for students, providing them with essential funding to dive deeper into their research pursuits. It covers a range of critical needs, from acquiring necessary research tools and programs to attending influential conferences. Such support is crucial in enhancing the students' academic journey and professional development.The research topics chosen by these… read more about Congratulations 2024 Dean’s Award Winners »
We are delighted to announce that Professor Li Ma has been chosen the next chair-elect of the Bayesian Nonparametrics section of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (BNP-ISBA). BNP-ISBA promotes the development and application of Bayesian nonparametric methods and inferential techniques, and this research area has long been a specialty of the Department of Statistical Science at Duke. Several Duke alumni were elected to other roles on the recent ISBA ballot, including Aki Nishimura (Secretary of the… read more about Ma Voted Chair-Elect of ISBA Section on Bayesian Nonparametrics »
Dr. Fan Bu (PhD 2021) and Dr. Tommaso Rigon (postdoc 2019-2020) were recently named Blackwell-Rosenbluth Awardees, giving Duke 1/3 of the class of 2024 winners! Bu completed her dissertation under the direction of Prof. Alex Volfovsky and is now Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at University of Michigan. Rigon spent time at Duke in 2019-2020 conducting research with Professors David Dunson and Amy Herring and is now Assistant Professor of Statistics at University of Milano-Bicocca.The Blackwell-Rosenbluth… read more about Bu, Rigon Win Blackwell-Rosenbluth Awards »
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has launched an initiative to spur innovative research on the co-evolution of artificial intelligence and human behavior: the Society-Centered AI Initiative at Duke.Directed by Chris Bail, professor of Sociology, Political Science and Public Policy, the Society-Centered AI Initiative at Duke is a collaborative effort aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research exploring the myriad ways in which AI will influence human behavior — and how social factors will… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches Society-Centered AI Initiative »
Shelby Tisdale, a senior majoring in Statistical Science with a certificate in Child Policy Research and minor in Education with Secondary Teacher Licensure in Mathematics, was awarded a Morris Fellowship Award for Research on Child and Family Policy to support her senior thesis for Graduation with Distinction. She plans to use the fellowship award for computing support and conference travel. Her thesis, advised by Dr. Maria Tackett, uses Bayesian hierarchical modeling to explore the relationship between unobligated… read more about Shelby Tisdale Awarded Morris Fellowship »
Speaker(s): Dr. Dawn Strickland, Director of Master's ProgramMegan Kelly Deyncourt, Associate Director of Master's ProgramInterested in applying to Duke’s Master’s of Statistical Science program? Join Dr. Dawn Strickland and Megan Kelly Deyncourt to learn more about our world-class program. We’ll give a brief overview of the MSS program and the admissions process, followed by a Q&A session with the participants.Session One: Tuesday, October 15th, 9 am EDTSession Two: Thursday, October 24th… read more about Upcoming MSS Information Session »
Defending a Ph.D. is stressful. Starting a new faculty position is also stressful. Starting a new faculty position in a foreign country four days after defending? Ask Filippo Ascolani about it. The new assistant professor of Statistical Sciences — who comes to Duke fresh out of his Ph.D. at the Università Bocconi, in Milan, Italy — doesn’t feel totally out of water, though. “I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people from the department in conferences around the world,” he said. “I met some of the Ph.D.… read more about Filippo Ascolani Designs Neat Models for Messy Data »
Congratulations to Professor Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, who is joining the Executive Committee of the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE) as a Vice President. With over 400 members, the IASE is an international umbrella organization working to improve statistics education at all levels, from primary school through professional training. Congratulations, Mine! read more about Çetinkaya-Rundel named Vice President of IASE. »
At the recent Joint Statistical Meetings, the Social Statistics Section (SSS) of the American Statistical Association (ASA) awarded Professor David Banks the Social Statistics Section Distinguished Scholar Award for lifetime contributions to the development and application of statistical science to social problems and issues including but not limited to demography, sociology, economics, political science, criminology, education, and public policy. Congratulations, David! read more about David Banks awarded Social Statistics Section Distinguished Scholar Award »
Alyson Wilson, Alum '95, PhD, of Raleigh, NC, has been promoted to interim vice chancellor for research and innovation at North Carolina State University. Wilson joined NC State in 2013. More information about Dr. Wilson is available at https://leadership.ncsu.edu/people/alyson-wilson/ read more about Alyson Wilson, Alum '95, Named Interim VP for Research at NC State »
PhD student Braden Scherting won the best poster award at the 2024 International Statistical Ecology Conference in Swansea, Wales for his presentation “Interpretable ecological community modeling for observed abundance.” Braden worked with Professor David Dunson to introduce a new class of joint species distribution model (JSDM) for abundance data based on sparse, nonnegative matrix factorization adapted to accommodate a variety of dependence structures. The method enables researchers to learn low-dimensional, interpretable… read more about Braden Scherting wins Best Poster Award »
Professor Li Ma has been named ISBA Fellow for his outstanding achievements. The citation reads: “For his innovative and elegant contributions to theory and methods in Bayesian nonparametric inference; for his outstanding contributions to biomedical sciences in developing statistical approaches for microbiome data; for his exceptional service to ISBA; and for generously devoting time to valuable service to the broader scientific community.” Congratulations, Li! read more about Professor Li Ma Named ISBA Fellow »
Statisticians from around the globe recently convened in Venice, Italy for the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) World Meeting, and numerous Duke scholars were honored for their achievements. Professor Li Ma was recognized as an ISBA Fellow at the gala dinner and awards ceremony. Professor Ma is known for his work on nonparametric modeling and inference, multi-scale inference, recursive partitioning and tree-related methods, and statistical modeling of microbiome sequencing data and flow cytometry. He… read more about Duke Scholars Recognized at ISBA World Meeting »
In March, teams of students from Duke and UNC participated in the annual DataFest competition, hosted at Duke. Organized by the American Statistical Association (ASA), DataFest is a celebration of data, in which teams of undergraduates work around the clock to find and share meaning in a large, rich and complex data set. DataFest was founded at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2011, with only 30 students. This year, Duke’s DataFest welcomed 195 students, including 95 from Duke and 90 from UNC. … read more about Students Put Classroom Skills Into Practice at Duke DataFest 2024 »
Dr. Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel was the professional night speaker at this year’s AP Statistics grading event in Tampa, Florida. The AP Statistics grading event is an annual gathering where teachers and college faculty members score the free-response sections of the AP Statistics exam. The professional night talk is a key highlight, providing attendees with an opportunity to gain insights from prominent figures in the field. Dr. Çetinkaya-Rundel's talk, "Statistics in the Age of Data Science," introduced the department's… read more about Dr. Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel gives the Professional Night talk at the AP Statistics Grading Event »
The faculty and staff of the Department of Statistical Science offers heartfelt congratulations to the MSS Class of 2024! Members of this graduating class are part of an incredibly accomplished group. Eight students will be entering prestigious Ph.D. programs at Duke, Johns Hopkins, and UPenn, among others, and most received multiple Ph.D. admissions offers. Other members of the class are stepping into a myriad of industry roles, including data scientists, engineers, and analysts at companies like American Express,… read more about Congratulations, MSS Class of 2024! »
Fan Li has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. As stated on the IMS website, Fellows ".. have demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability, by publication of independent work of merit." Congratulations, Fan! read more about Professor Fan Li Has Been Named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics »
Professor Li Ma has been elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. As described on the ASA website, "The designation of ASA Fellow has been a significant honor for nearly 100 years. Under ASA bylaws, the Committee on Fellows can elect up to one-third of one percent of the total association membership as fellows each year. To be selected, nominees must have an established reputation and have made outstanding contributions to statistical science." read more about Professor Li Ma Attains Fellowship Status with the American Statistical Association »
May 11, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Speaker(s): Jerry Reiter, Professor and Chair of Statistical Science On Saturday, May 11th, 2024, from 4 to 6 p.m., we will celebrate the hard work and dedication of our 2024 graduates and their families with a diploma ceremony. Invitation emails were sent out on April 12th to all upcoming graduates. If you didn't receive the email please contact Karen Whitesell. We look forward to sharing this special moment with you! read more about Diploma Ceremony Scheduled »
