Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Decision Sciences Mike West has been announced as the Bruno de Finetti Lecturer for the 2022 World Meeting of the International Society of Bayesian Analysis (ISBA). This biennial ISBA award recognizes “an outstanding scholar who has provided significant contributions to the advancement of Bayesian Statistics.” Established in 2015, the award has previously recognized Persi Diaconis (Stanford), Phil Dawid (Cambridge) and our own Jim Berger. read more about Statistical Science Professor has been announced as the Bruno de Finetti Lecturer »
First-year MSS students are getting prepared for summer internship applications by taking part in an interactive Writing Effective Resumes Workshop. The workshop was given by Dr. Heidi Giusto and is tailored to the needs of Master’s students in the Statistical Science Department. In this workshop, students learned best practices for resume writing and understanding how applicant tracking systems work. Upon completing the workshop, each student will have two individual consultation sessions with Dr. Guisto to review their… read more about MSS Professional Development Series Begins »
Only one line of code separates a method created by Duke Statistical Science Professor Fan Li from another methodology commonly used in assessing the relative effectiveness of medical treatments. But her approach has proved to be a powerful new tool for doctors trying to navigate complex treatment challenges for patients with COVID-19. Li began her work with overlap weights – the name of her methodology – years before the pandemic struck. Her initial paper on the topic was published in the Journal of the American… read more about Duke-Developed Statistical Method Helps Physicians Weigh COVID-19 Treatments »
The Department of Statistical Science at Duke University is participating in a campus-wide faculty search for the Duke Science and Technology Initiative; please see the job ad at https://research.duke.edu/dst-faculty-search. This program seeks to attract leading scholars in, among other areas, computation. The position is open rank, although junior candidates are preferred. read more about Faculty Position with Duke Statistical Science »
It's always wonderful to have our MSS alums come and talk to our current students. Eden Huang, MSS 2018 alum, thank you for your excellent presentation about various data science projects at Liberty Mutual Insurance! Also, thanks to Dan McCarthy for his excellent discussion on company culture, available positions, internship opportunities, and interview advice. We hope a few of our students will be able to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities available! read more about Liberty Mutual Information Session »
Our colleague and alum Hedibert Lopes (Duke StatSci PhD 2000) has been appointed as the Charles Wexler Distinguished Professor of Statistics in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Arizona State University. Please join us in congratulating Hedibert on his new position and in looking forward to the coming years in statistical science and especially for Bayesian analysis at ASU. read more about PhD Alum Hedibert Lopes named a distinguished professor at ASU »
Fan Li's 2018 paper "Balancing covariates via propensity score weighting" (JASA, 113(521), 390-400) is the second most cited paper in 2020 among all papers published in the Journal of American Statistical Society in the last three years. read more about Fan Li paper among most highly cited in JASA »
At the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) 2021 World Meeting, multiple Duke Statistical Science PhD students were among the 21 selected to receive the “Best Student/Postdoc Contributed Paper Award”. The awards are sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Each award is accompanied by a monetary prize and a certificate. The StaSci winners’ contributions are listed below. Alessandro Zito (Current PhD student at Duke Statistical Science) … read more about Multiple StatSci Winners of the ISBA Student/Postdoc Contributed Paper Awards »
David Dunson was interviewed on the podcast, Philosophy of Data Science, on his views of how statistical science advances other disciplines. Watch the interview here. read more about David Dunson talks on Statistics and Science »
Congratulations to Andrew Cron (Duke StatSci PhD 2012) on taking over as Chief of Science at 84.51 read more about New Role for Andrew Cron (PhD 2012) »
PhD student Alessandro Zito won a ISBA 2021 Best Student/Postdoc Contributed Paper Award. He received the award for his paper titled, “Bayesian modeling of sequential discoveries.” read more about Alessandro Zito wins best paper award at ISBA conference »
PhD student Anna Yanchenko won the Best Student Presentation Award of the Industrial Statistics Section, International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA), at the recent ISBA World Meeting. Anna won the award based on her presentation of research in the paper on “Hierarchical Dynamic Modeling for Individualized Bayesian Forecasting.” read more about Anna Yanchenko wins best presentation award »
Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel has been elected as Chair-Elect 2022 for the American Statistical Association Statistical Computing Section. Yue Jiang has been elected Secretary/Treasurer of the American Statistical Association Risk Analysis Section. read more about Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel and Yue Jiang elected to ASA offices »
Duke Statistical Science professor Beka Steorts has been selected to deliver the Washington Statistical Society Presidents' annual invited lecture. Professor Steorts will discuss her work on, "Entity Resolution with Societal Impacts in Statistical Survey Methodology, Statistical Science, and Machine Learning." The lecture will be on June 24 over Zoom; see flyer for details including the Zoom link. read more about Beka Steorts to deliver WSS Invited Lecture »
Duke Statistical Science PhD alumnus Kelly Moran, postdoc Sharmistha Guha, and postdoc Tommaso Rigon have been named 2020 Savage Awards Finalists. The Savage Award, named in honor of Leonard J. “Jimmie” Savage, is bestowed each year to two outstanding doctoral dissertations in Bayesian econometrics and statistics, one each in Theory & Methods and Applied Methodology. Kelly and Sharmistha were named in the category Applied Methodology, and Tommaso was named in the category Theory and Methods.… read more about Duke StatSci Savage Award Finalists! »
When he was an undergraduate political science student, Kerry Haynie was never taught about the 1921 Tulsa massacre. Nor was there much discussion about the role of race in the founding political documents of this country or much examination of how race influenced public services such as sewer lines and zoning. In one sense, a lot has changed. In 2021, Duke’s faculty includes a strong lineup of leading scholars who examine how race is embedded in issues that cross all the schools of the university. This fall, many of… read more about University Course Raises Race as a Central Element of Undergraduate Education »
We as a department would like to congratulate the 38 students who graduated with a Master's in Statistical Science (MSS) in Spring 2021! While earning an MSS degree at Duke is challenging enough on its own, the MSS Class of 2021 had to complete approximately three-quarters of their degree during a pandemic, and they rose to the challenge. They worked hard, overcame many obstacles, and impressed everyone with their intelligence, perseverance, and commitment. We would also like to recognize a few… read more about MSS Program Graduates 38 Statistical Scientists »
DataFest 2021 at Duke was one of over thirty virtual ASA DataFest events that took place in Spring 2021. DataFest is a data analysis competition sponsored by the American Statistical Association; students work in teams to analyze a surprise and complex data set over a weekend. This year, Duke’s participants included over 250 students representing 12 colleges and universities. The surprise data set from Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety included responses from the United States, Canada, and Germany about drug… read more about DataFest 2021 at Duke »
Statistical Science Chair Jerry Reiter and members of the Statistical Science faculty and staff prepared video messages to congratulate the Class of 2021 and announce the 2021 Statistical Science Award recipients. Access Videos read more about StatSci Celebrates 2021 Graduates & Award Recipients »
Each fall, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE) and the American Statistical Association host the Undergraduate Class Project Competition. Teams from across the globe submit projects completed in an introductory or intermediate statistics class, which are then judged on their accuracy, clarity and significance. In 2020, Duke students, mentored by professors Maria Tackett and Yue Jiang, swept the top three places of the introductory category, along with both… read more about Undergraduate Thesis Projects Show Just How Versatile the Study of Statistics Can Be »
In Spring 2021 the Department of Statistical Science was awarded an $11,000 grant from the Trinity Research Enhancement (TRE) Fund, a program by the Office of Academic Affairs to support undergraduate research and senior thesis projects. The goals for the 2021 award are to make ongoing undergraduate research initiatives in the department more sustainable and to support a new workshop aimed at getting students involved in research early in the statistics curriculum. The Principal Investigator is Assistant… read more about Department awarded grant to support undergraduate research initiatives »
Six members of the Class of 2022 have been named to the inaugural class of Nakayama Scholars. Juniors Sydney Albert, Carlee Goldberg, Erica Langan, Yi Xian “Lyndon” Lee, Ahn-Huy Nguyen, and Micalyn Struble were chosen for their stellar academics, leadership and demonstrated commitment to a career in public service. The Nakayama Public Service Scholarship is part of the university’s efforts to encourage students to use their Duke experience to engage with the large challenges facing communities around the world. The… read more about Six Students Named Inaugural Nakayama Public Service Scholars »
Sloan Scholar Brian Kundinger (Statistical Science) has received the Google Ph.D. Fellowship in support of his research on record linkage. read more about Sloan Scholar Kundinger Receives Google PhD Fellowship »