Dear Friends of the ISU Department of Statistics,
I hope you are well and enjoying summer. Things are beginning to return to normal at Iowa State after more than a year of operations altered by the pandemic. Snedecor Hall remains quiet, but I have been seeing more folks around the building lately. The main office is staffed in person by our new administrative assistant, Kathy Kiesling, and by Jessica Severe, our graduate secretary. Denise Riker, undergraduate secretary, is spending mornings in her third-floor office. Macy Ott, our new outreach coordinator works next door to Snedecor Hall from her office in Atanasoff. Marlene Tjernagel retired on June 30, 2021, after more than two decades as an account clerk for the Department of Statistics. Those of you who worked with Marlene know she did her job in a special way that helped make the Department of Statistics at Iowa State a better place. We will miss Marlene!
Professor Sarah Nusser and University Professor Stephen Vardeman also retired in 2021. Steve was a member of the Department of Statistics for 40 years, and Sarah joined the faculty 29 years ago after earning MS and Ph.D. degrees from the department. We celebrated Steve’s retirement in May (see story below) and will hold a reception to honor Sarah later this fall (see details below). We will certainly miss Sarah and Steve, who have contributed so much to the ISU Department of Statistics over the years, but we look forward to working with them in their new roles as professors emeriti.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we had a successful spring semester. We taught our courses through a combination of online and in-person instruction. We continued our research, consulting, and service activities, using video conferencing software to facilitate communications. Several students and faculty were honored with awards or promotions. The department had a successful external review in March. Throughout the past year, we became adept at doing our work in new ways, but we are all looking forward to a return to more normal times.
I hope you enjoy reading the remainder of this newsletter, which contains some departmental highlights from the first half of 2021 assembled by Macy Ott.
Sincerely,
Dan Nettleton, Ph.D.
Laurence H. Baker Endowed Chair
Distinguished Professor
Chair, Department of Statistics
Director, Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics
Jae-Kwang Kim
In January, Professor of Statistics, Dr. Jae-Kwang Kim, was elected as President-Elect for the Korean International Statistical Society (KISS). He will spend the first two years as President-Elect, the second two years as President, and the third two years as Past President. In June, Kim was selected as the recipient of the LAS Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research. The award is presented to faculty members for outstanding career achievements in research and/or creative activity. We congratulate Dr. Kim for all he achieved this semester.
Sarah Nusser
Sarah Nusser retired in June after more than three decades at Iowa State. Following bachelor's and master's degrees in botany from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and North Carolina State University, Sarah earned MS and PhD degrees in statistics at ISU. She joined our Department of Statistics as an assistant professor in 1992. She was promoted to full professor and named Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2003. She served as Director of the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology (CSSM) for many years and played a major role in making CSSM the strong unit it is today. She became an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute in 2012 and served as ISU Vice President for Research from 2014 to 2020. She has had a wonderful career and contributed much to Iowa State and our Department of Statistics. Although Sarah has retired, she will continue to work on her NSF-funded research project and will continue to serve as a senior research fellow for the Association of American Universities, where she supports efforts to accelerate public access to research data. We wish Sarah the best in all that is to come.
Alicia Carriquiry
Alicia Carriquiry, Distinguished Professor, President’s Chair in Statistics, and Director of the Center for Statistics and Analysis of Forensic Evidence, received two major honors this past spring. First, the International Society for Bayesian Analysis awarded the Zellner Medal to Alicia for exceptional service and contributions that have had an impact on the society. Next, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) selected Alicia as the 2021 COPSS Florence Nightingale David Award Winner. This award is given every two years in honor of Florence Nightingale David and “is granted to a female statistician who serves as a role model to other women by her contributions to the profession through excellence in research, the leadership of multidisciplinary collaborative groups, statistics education, or service to the professional societies.” Alicia will receive a plaque, a citation, and a cash award. She will also deliver a keynote presentation, the Florence Nightingale David Lecture, at the Joint Statistical Meetings on August 12. Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Carriquiry!
Emily Berg
In April, ISU Statistics faculty member, Dr. Emily Berg, was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor in the Department of Statistics by the Iowa Board of Regents. Congratulations to Dr. Berg.
Lily Wang
In April, Statistics Professor Lily Wang was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the world’s largest community of statisticians. Wang was selected for her significant contributions to the advancement of statistical science. Dr. Wang was also chosen as the recipient of the LAS Award for Mid-Career Achievement in Research for exemplary accomplishments as a professor and researcher whose work impacts the field of statistics and the Iowa State Community.
Kevin Kasper
In April, ISU Department of Statistics faculty member Kevin Kasper achieved the advancement to associate teaching professor. Congratulations to Kevin on this achievement.
Somak Dutta
Congratulations to Dr. Somak Dutta on being awarded tenure and his promotion to associate professor in the Department of Statistics at Iowa State University by the Iowa Board of Regents in April.
Dan Nordman
In April, Statistics Professor Dan Nordman was named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). Nordman was selected for upholding the values of the IMS by being devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability.
Heike Hofmann
In June, Dr. Heike Hofmann was chosen to receive the ISU Interdisciplinary Team Research Award. The award recognizes an interdisciplinary team of faculty researchers with outstanding achievements who have made a significant contribution to the University's research and scholarship mission through successful interdisciplinary collaborations. Congratulations to Dr. Hofmann.
Dan Nettleton
In June, Distinguished Professor and Departmental Chair of Statistics, Dr. Dan Nettleton, was chosen as the recipient of the LAS Award for Early Achievement in Departmental Leadership. The award is presented to a departmental chair or school director who has demonstrated exceptional impact on advancing the faculty, staff, students and/or programs in his/her department or school within the first five years of the leadership role. Congratulations to Dr. Nettleton on this achievement.
Wayne Fuller
In June, Distinguished Professor, Dr. Wayne Fuller, received the 2021 American Statistical Association (ASA) Mentoring Award. The ASA Mentoring Award is given each year to a member who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in developing the careers of statistics students, statisticians, or statistical researchers early in their careers. Congratulations to Dr. Fuller on this wonderful achievement.
Max Morris & Stephen Vardeman
In June, the Department of Statistics partnered with the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering (IMSE) to host a retirement reception in honor of Professor Max Morris and University Professor Stephen Vardeman in May of 2021. Max retired in May of 2020 after 22 years at ISU, and Steve retired in May of 2021 after 40 years at ISU. Max and Steve were important members of both Statistics and IMSE and had a big positive impact on many students and colleagues.
Macy Ott
In June, Macy Ott started as the Outreach Coordinator for the Department of Statistics as well as Computer Science. Macy assists our department with social media and website management as well as alumni and student relations. You can reach Macy at mmott@iastate.edu or at her office in 226 Atanasoff.
Kathy Kiesling
The Department of Statistics welcomes Kathy Kiesling as the administrative assistant for the department. Kathy was previously employed at Iowa State as a secretary for both the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology and the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology. Kathy can be reached in person in 1121B Snedecor Hall, by phone at 515-294-7738, or via email at kiesling@iastate.edu.
Matt Stuart wins ASA 2021 Student Paper Award
Graduate student, Matt Stuart, won an American Statistical Association Student Paper Award from the Business and Economics Statistics Section.
Yifan Zhu wins ASA 2021 Student Paper Award
Graduate Student, Yifan Zhu, won an American Statistical Association Student Paper Award from the Sections on Statistical Computing and Graphics.
Geoffrey Thompson wins ASA 2021 Student Paper Award
Graduate student, Geoffrey Thompson, won an American Statistical Association Student Paper Award from the Statistics in Imaging Section.
Benjamin Litterer named Goldwater Scholar
Junior in data science, Benjamin Litterer, has been named a 2021 Goldwater Scholar. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering in the United States.
Graduate student receives ASA Scholarship for Outstanding Graduate Student in Statistics
Sepideh Mosaferi, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Statistics, was awarded the Edward C. Bryant Scholarship for an Outstanding Graduate Student in Survey Statistics. The scholarship is awarded based on three criteria: the potential to contribute to survey statistics, applied experience in survey statistics, and performance in graduate school
Department of Statistics celebrates student awards
The Department of Statistics held a celebration to honor the student award recipients from the spring semester. The Research Excellence Award recipients were Qinglong Tian, Hengfang Wang and Geoffrey Thompson, awarded for their outstanding research accomplishments. The Teaching Excellence Award recipients were Kanak Choudhury, Kellie McClernon, Marie Hardt, Grant Cabrera, Debosmita Kundu, Charlotte Roiger, Hana Lee and Nathan Friedrichsen, awarded for their outstanding teaching achievements.
Statistics Alumnus Charles Liedtke awarded MFESTS Distinguished Science and Engineering Professioinal Award
Congratulations to Charles Liedtke on being awarded the Minnesota Federation of Engineering, Science and Technology Societies Richard S. Alberg Distinguished Science and Technology Professional Award. Dr. Liedtke was honored by MFESTS with the award for his contributions in Minnesota in the area of technical strategy on quality initiatives.
Tetsuro Motoyama, 1978 Bancroft Award Winner, pays visit to Snedecor Hall 43 years later
Tetsuro Motoyama dropped by the department in May to say hello. Dr. Motoyama earned a Ph.D. in Psychology and Statistics at ISU and was the co-winner (with Paul Gibson) of the Bancroft Award in 1978. The Bancroft Award honors T. A. Bancroft, who was department head and director of the Statistical Laboratory from 1950-1972. The Bancroft Award is given to the most outstanding Ph.D. candidate with a co-major or minor in Statistics.
Paper co-authored by statistics faculty and graduates students named February Editor's Choice for the Journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine
Associate Professor in Statistics and Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine Chong Wang, statistics graduate student Dapeng Hu, and statistics graduate student Paul Morris were named February Editor's Choice for the Journal of Preventive Veterinary Medicine.
Data Science for the Public Good Young Scholars Program team received an ISU Extension and Outreach Award
Data Science for the Public Good Young Scholars Program team, including Professor and Professor-In-Charge of Data Science Heike Hofmann, has been selected to receive the 2021 ISU Extension and Outreach Excellence in Research-Based Programming Award
Research group secured $300,000 NSF grant to improve the reusability of publicly funded research data
Sarah Nusser, professor of statistics, is leading a research team that was awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to improve the accessibility and reusability of research data.
Statistic project received Miller undergraduate teaching grant
A project co-proposed by Professor of Agronomy Brian Hornbuckle, materials science and engineering graduate student Liz Griffin and statistics graduate student Audrey McCombs received one of seven Miller undergraduate teaching grants for the 2021-2022 academic year.
- Stay up to date by visiting the Department of Statistics website
- Support the department's mission by making a donation
- Do you have news to share with friends and alums of Statistics at ISU? If so, please send your news (attached photos welcome) to Macy Ott at statnews@iastate.edu.
- Keep up with the department by following us on social media