Issue #449 AMSTATNEWS the Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association •
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November 2014 • Issue #449 AMSTATNEWS The Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association • http://magazine.amstat.org ASA Gears Up for CSP ALSO: Using the Classroom to Bring Big Data to Statistical Agencies Sirken Endows Fund to Recognize Survey Researchers AMSTATNEWS NOVEMBER 2014 • ISSUE #449 Executive Director Ron Wasserstein: [email protected] Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations features Stephen Porzio: [email protected] 3 President’s Corner Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson: [email protected] 5 This Month in ASA's History Director of Education 5 ASA in Search of Editors Rebecca Nichols: [email protected] 6 Highlights of the August 2014 ASA Board of Directors Meeting Managing Editor Megan Murphy: [email protected] 8 Nominations Wanted for ASA President-Elect, Vice President, International Representative Candidates Production Coordinators/Graphic Designers Sara Davidson: [email protected] 9 SAMSI Offers Two New Research Programs for 2014–2015 Kathryn Wright: [email protected] 9 AAPOR Releases Report on Survey Refusals Publications Coordinator Val Nirala: [email protected] 10 Meet Joseph Reilly, Associate Administrator of NASS Advertising Manager 12 Using the Classroom to Bring Big Data to Statistical Agencies Claudine Donovan: [email protected] Contributing Staff Members Pamela Craven • Amy Farris • Rebecca Nichols Steve Pierson • Kathleen Wert Amstat News welcomes news items and letters from readers on matters columns of interest to the association and the profession. Address correspondence to Managing Editor, Amstat News, American Statistical Association, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314-1943 USA, or email amstat@ 14 STATtr@k amstat.org. Items must be received by the first day of the preceding month Applying to Statistics PhD Programs to ensure appearance in the next issue (for example, June 1 for the July issue). Material can be sent as a Microsoft Word document, PDF, or within an email. STATtr@k is a column in Amstat News and a website geared toward people who Articles will be edited for space. Accompanying artwork will be accepted are in a statistics program, recently graduated from a statistics program, or recently in graphics file formats only (.jpg, etc.), minimum 300 dpi. No material in entered the job world. To read more articles like this one, visit the website WordPerfect will be accepted. www.stattrack.amstat.org. If you have suggestions for future articles, or would like Amstat News (ISSN 0163-9617) is published monthly by the American to submit an article, please email Megan Murphy, Amstat News managing editor, Statistical Association, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314- at [email protected]. 1943 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Amstat News, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314-1943 USA. Send Canadian address changes to APC, PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Rich Hill, Contributing Editor ON L4B 4R6. Annual subscriptions are $50 per year for nonmembers. Amstat Lee Richardson just graduated from the University of Washington News is the member publication of the ASA. For annual membership rates, with a BS in mathematics and statistics. He worked a year see www.amstat.org/join or contact ASA Member Services at (888) 231-3473. for the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation and is now a American Statistical Association PhD student in the department of statistics at Carnegie Mellon. 732 North Washington Street Alexandria, VA 22314–1943 USA (703) 684–1221 • FAX: (703) 684-2037 Richardson ASA GENERAL: [email protected] ADDRESS CHANGES: [email protected] AMSTAT EDITORIAL: [email protected] 18 175 ADVERTISING: [email protected] Celebrating the Impact of Our Profession WEBSITE: http://magazine.amstat.org Printed in USA © 2014 This year marks the ASA's 175th birthday. To celebrate, the column "175"—written American Statistical Association by members of the ASA's 175th Anniversary Steering Committee and other ASA members—will chronicle the theme chosen for the celebration, status of prepara- tions, activities to take place, and—best yet—how you can get involved. Contributing Editor Promoting the Practice and Profession of Statistics® Fred Hulting is the director of Global Knowledge Services at General Mills, Inc. He holds a PhD in statistics from Iowa State University and has served the ASA in a variety of roles, including The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest section, chapter, and committee chair. community of statisticians. The ASA supports excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, Hulting education, accreditation, and advocacy. Our members serve in industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. departments 19 education Online Article 'Getting Much Further, Much Faster' The following article in this issue can be found 20 meetings online at http://magazine.amstat.org. ASA Gears Up for CSP 25 To increase student participation in statistical statistician's view conferences and other professional activities, the Statistics Losing Ground to Computer Science ASA’s Quality and Productivity Section (Q&P) initiated a student scholarship program to attend the Joint Statistical Meetings. Q&P will offer up to three travel awards of $400 each for students enrolled in a graduate program with a concentration in applied statistics and/or quality member news management to attend JSM in Seattle, Washington, 27 People News from August 8–13. Complete information about the award and how to apply is posted at http:// 29 Awards and Deadlines community.amstat.org/QP/ScholarshipsAwards/ JSMStudentTravelAwards. Sirken Lecture From left: Nat Schenker, Ron Congratulations to Yuqi Chen, the winner Wasserstein, and of the ASA’s Trivia Challenge for the third and final Monroe Sirken. Sirken provided the quarter! association with an Thanks to all who played and helped us celebrate endowment fund our 175th anniversary. to recognize a dis- tinguished survey researcher. Make the most of your ASA membership Visit the ASA Members Only site: www.amstat. 34 Professional Opportunities org/membersonly. Visit the ASA Calendar of Events, an online database of statistical happenings across the globe. Announcements are accepted from educational Follow us on Twitter @AmstatNews and not-for-profit organizations. To view the complete list of statistics meetings and workshops, Join the ASA Community visit www.amstat.org/dateline. http://community.amstat.org/Home Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/AmstatNews 2 amstat news november 2014 president's corner The ASA and Big Data: What’s Been Happening Lately? uring the past year, the The statisticians engaged with several dozen people, mostly ASA has engaged in a in interdisciplinary research young people, working in Big number of activities to involving Big Data will need Data enterprises. Dstrengthen the role of our profes- to be computationally savvy, The voices we heard comple- sion in the areas of Big Data and possessing expertise in ment the messages of the ASA data science. This column sum- statistical principles and an white paper with a business per- marizes some of those activities, understanding of algorithmic spective on the skills needed by with an emphasis on important complexity, computational statisticians. Participants in the steps we have taken in education cost, basic computer meetings noted that businesses and professional development. architecture, and the basics need people who can “jump in Three teams, each composed of both software engineering and swim with data” at a time of about a dozen ASA members principles and handling/ when both the volumes and com- and facilitated by ASA Science management of large-scale plexity of their data are increas- Policy Director Steve Pierson, data. Just as critical—for both ing rapidly. Statisticians need have created a series of white the training and recruitment— the skills to understand business papers (http://bit.ly/1DEBY0d). as the computational skills are problems and find solutions using interpersonal skills for the next These papers are aimed at data, but—even more impor- Nat Schenker research funding agencies, mak- generation of statisticians to tantly—the leadership ability to ing clear that statisticians are be effective communicators, “make it to the middle,” serving vital partners in advancing sci- leaders, and team members. as a bridge between highly techni- ence with their expertise in study cal employees and business man- design, inference, and quantify- To broaden our thinking, agement–oriented employees. In ing uncertainty. The papers artic- the ASA is conducting meetings summary, desirable traits include ulate the distinctive input statisti- around the country with leaders in strong skills in statistical methods, cians can provide to help tackle data science and users of Big Data. data collection and management, our nation’s critical research pri- It is extremely important to listen and computing; understanding orities. One of the papers (http:// to voices outside of our profession, important applied problems and bit.ly/1mBUuRD) discusses how so we have intentionally sought out how to use data to solve them; statistics can contribute to solving people in different business sectors. communication; and leadership. problems