AMSTATNEWS the Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association •

December 2019 • Issue #510 AMSTATNEWS The Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association • http://magazine.amstat.org

Success LOOKS LIKE WSDS 2019 ALSO: ASA-AAAS Mass Media Fellow Shares What She Learned (Bio)Statistics Bachelor’s Degrees Nearly Quintuple This Decade SSYMPOSIUMDSS ON DATA SCIENCE & STATISTICS

SDSS is designed for data scientists, computer scientists, and statisticians who analyze and visualize complex data.

Innovative sessions focus on the following tracks: PARTICIPATE Contributed Paper Abstract Submission: MACHINE December 4, 2019 – January 30, 2020 LEARNING E-Poster Abstract Submission: December 4, 2019 – March 10, 2020 DATA VISUALIZATION ATTEND Online Registration and Housing Open: January 15, 2020 SOFTWARE & Early Registration Deadline: April 7, 2020 DATA SCIENCE TECHNOLOGIES Housing Reservation Deadline: May 12, 2020 Regular Registration Deadline: June 6, 2020 Onsite Registration: June 3–6, 2020 PRACTICE AND APPLICATIONS Learn more at ww2.amstat.org/sdss.

COMPUTATIONAL BEYOND BIG DATA: STATISTICS COLLABORATION IN SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, AND SOCIETY EDUCATION PITTSBURGH, PA • JUNE 3 6, 2020

® AMSTATNEWS DECEMBER 2019 • ISSUE #510

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 ASA Journals in Need of Editors Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach 5 Latest Issue of Significance Asks Many Questions Donna LaLonde: [email protected] 6 (Bio)Statistics Bachelor’s Degrees Nearly Quintuple Director of Education This Decade Rebecca Nichols: [email protected] 10 ASA-AAAS Mass Media Fellow Shares What She Learned Managing Editor Megan Murphy: [email protected] 11 ASA to Provide Ongoing Ombuds Service Editor and Content Strategist 12 Staff Spotlight: Regina Nuzzo Val Nirala: [email protected] 14 June CNSTAT Workshop Focused on Privacy Production Coordinators/Graphic Designers Olivia Brown: [email protected] 15 2019 FTC Focus: Setting the Standard for Success in Quality Megan Ruyle: [email protected] 16 New Graduate Data Science Programs, Continued Advertising Manager Claudine Donovan: [email protected]

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® The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians. The ASA supports excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, 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 26 meetings All of us at the ASA join in wishing you a Success Looks Like WSDS 2019 wonderful holiday season and a prosperous, healthy New Year! Opportunities Abound for JSM 2020 Participation

29 education 2020 Internships

DATA4GOOD Researchers Fight Homelessness In this months Stats for Good column, David Corliss looks at hackathons and how they’re one of the best ways to get involved in fighting homelessness. Visit http://magazine.amstat.org to read about how you can run a successful hackathon and make a difference in people’s lives. Barbara and Laura Wendelberger chat during the Opening Mixer at WSDS 2019. See more photos on Page 26. member news 37 Awards and Deadlines

KEY 2020 DATES NOTABLE EVENTS February ® ASA OFFICE CLOSURES Black History Month SEPTEMBER January 1 New Year’s Day March Biopharm Workshop 2020 housing closes 38 People News 1 Women’s History Month WSDS 2020 housing closes January 20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day 7 April MAY Health Policy Statistics Section Achievement February 17 Presidents’ Day Government Statistics Section Wray Jackson 15 Mathematics and Statistics 1 Awards nomination deadline May 25 Memorial Day Smith Scholarship application deadline Awareness Month (US) Biopharm Workshop 2020, Rockville, 23–25 July 3 Independence Day (Observed) 20MARCH Links Lecture Award nomination deadlineCALENDARMaryland November 27 0 ASA Fellows nomination deadline CSP 2021 short course and tutorial September 7 Labor Day ASA founded on this date in 1839 1 7 JSM 2021 continuing education course 2 submission closes GET30 CONNECTED Causality in Statistics Education Award proposal submission closes November 26 Thanksgiving JANUARY nomination deadline ICES VI regular registration opens 8 November 27 Fall Holiday with the SDSS 2020 housing closes 6–8 ICHPS 2020, San Diego, California Edward C. Bryant Scholarship Trust Fund 12 OCTOBER CSP 2020 regular registration begins application deadline December 25 Christmas Day CSP 2021 concurrent oral abstract 10 14 WSDS 2020, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 40 Section Chapter Committee News 1–3 JSM 2020 computer technology workshop Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award submission opens • • 15 nomination deadline Lester R. Curtin Award nomination deadline proposal submission closes ICES VI housing deadline 15 22 Lingzi Lu Memorial Award nomination deadline Gottfried E. Noether Awards nomination Mentoring Award nomination deadline WSDS 2020 early registration and housing open deadline 28 Outstanding Statistical Application Award SDSS 2020 early registration and housing open nomination deadline NOVEMBER MEETINGS ASA Biopharmaceutical Section JSM 2020 meeting and event request Statistical Partnerships among Academe, JUNE Deming Lecture Award nomination deadline 22 K–12 Project Competition submission deadline 15 submission opens Industry, and Government (SPAIG) Award 1 BIOPHARM WORKSHOP: nomination deadline JSM 2020 regular registration opens Statistics in Epidemiology Section Student Regulatory-Industry Statistics Workshop Biopharm Workshop 2020 roundtable and 3 Paper Award deadline 23 poster abstract submission opens SDSS 2020 e-poster abstract submission closes SDSS 2020, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 10 3–6 CSP: Conference on Statistical Practice CSP 2020 housing deadline ASA Founders Award nomination deadline Biopharm Workshop 2020 early 27 15 11 DECEMBER registration and housing open Want to buildBiometrics yourStudent Paper network? Award deadline Want toICES take VI: International your career Conference to on the Establishment next Statisticslevel? Want to share JSM 2020 registration for extension requests Biopharmaceutical Section Scholarship Award 1 I have enjoyed and bene ted from 28 application deadline 41 Professional Opportunities for government agencies closes CSP 2021 concurrent oral abstract 14 ICHPS: International Conference on Health Policy Statistics submission closes Statistics and the Environment Section SDSS 2020 contributed paper abstract Biopharm Workshop 2020 roundtable Student Paper Award deadline 30 27 the discussions … I have learned submission closes abstract submission closes ICES VI, New Orleans, Louisiana exciting research? You want the ASA Community,JSM: Joint Statistical Meetingsan online tool available to all members. 15-18 Epidemiology Section Student Paper JSM 2020 regular registration and housing close Award deadline SDSS: Symposium on Data Science & Statistics a great deal from other members APRIL 30 FEBRUARY You’ll nd JSM 2021communities abstract submission opens within for chapters,WSDS: sections, Women in Statistics special and Data interest Science Conference groups, and ASA meetings. of [my] section. I particularly Karl E. Peace Award for Outstanding Statistical 1 1 CSP 2021 short course and tutorial John J. Bartko Scholarship Award Contributions for the Betterment of Society submission opens JULY 2 CSP 2021 poster abstract submission opens application deadline nomination deadline 9 For information about most of these events, visit appreciate the helpful and K–12 Poster Competition submission deadline JSM 2020 abstract submission closes JSM 2020 submission of meeting and event Student paper competition/travel award—to 4 2 15 ASA: www.amstat.org respectful tone of the discourse. ICES VI early registration and housing open requests closes AUGUST attend JSM—deadline 11 JSM 2020, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ASA Meetings: www.amstat.org/asa/meetings WSDS 2020 concurrent and speed proposal WSDS 2020 abstract submission closes 1–6 Monroe G. Sirken Award in Interdisciplinary www.amstat.org/ASA/Your-Career/Awards-and-Recognition 13 Biopharm Workshop 2020 regular 20 submission opens SDSS 2020 regular registration opens 14 Survey Methods Research nomination deadline ASA Awards: — DEBORAH DAWSON 8 registration opens Biopharm Workshop 2020 poster abstract 15 W. J. Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical 15 WSDS 2020 regular registration opens ASA Education: www.amstat.org/asa/education Consulting nomination deadline submission closes CSP 2021 poster abstract submission closes Harry V. Roberts Statistical Advocate of the 19 Year Award nomination deadline Waller Distinguished Teaching Career Award Collaborate nomination deadline Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Award Waller Education Award nomination deadline Learn nomination deadline JSM 2020 early registration and housing open All our communities have discussion boards 30 W. J. Youden Award in Interlaboratory Testing nomination deadline where you can participate in meaningful The ASA Community is full of people lending Statistics in Physical Engineering Sciences 20 Award nomination deadline dialogue with statisticians all over the world. their expertise. Ask questions. Discuss your 20-22 CSP 2020, Sacramento, California experiences. There will always be someone who Follow us on Twitter Gertrude M. Cox Scholarship 23 application deadline is happy to help you understand new subjects. www.twitter.com/AmstatNews Network It’s been very educational Share to read responses to technical Whether you’re starting your career or Help kickstart a great conversation by sharing questions. 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2 amstat news december 2019 president's corner

The Year in Review … And More to Come

t has been a real honor to be and engage in joint initiatives for scientists who wish to address the ASA president and have the attracting diverse talent to STEM research and practical challenges privilege of this forum to com- fields—statistics specifically. associated with disinformation. Imunicate with you. Some of you (Someday, perhaps “STEM” will With help from the ASA’s staff, have taken the time to share your become “STEMS,” with the final they have developed an impressive thoughts about these columns, S for statistics.) website of resources, which you which I’ve greatly appreciated. The ASA has had an active can find at https://sites.google.com/ Next month, the ASA enters Committee on Minorities since nonlinearlearning.org/confronting- its 181st year, with a new ASA 1978, currently chaired by Dionne disinformation/home. They also president. It certainly will look Swift. Its charge is to foster greater have identified several important different from the ASA of 1839, participation in statistics by the avenues for research (see https:// or 1939, or even 1999. In my last many historically under-represent- drive.google.com/file/d/14DAyh6_ column, I will reflect on accom- ed groups and encourage research hBbwYo2aujj7rLfpwGLo9Vtix/ plishments of the past year, chal- in the development, evaluation, view) and are planning a work- Karen Kafadar lenges ahead, and—last but most and implementation of policies shop titled “Research Challenges important—my experiences and interventions that improve the in Disinformation.” with you, our members, without condition of minority populations We had another successful whom the ASA would not exist. in the US. It organizes two success- JSM in Denver. Its superb pro- David Williamson is leading ful events each year: the Diversity gram committee, led by Richard the task group ASA as Enabler of Mentoring Program at JSM and Levine, organized a terrific tech- Statistical Impact to create mech- StatFest, held in Houston this year. nical program (see https://maga- anisms to proactively identify Julia and her colleagues have zine.amstat.org/blog/2019/10/01/ areas ripe for statistical involve- been developing a dynamic jsm-2019-reminiscing-on-the- ment. Susan Paddock is orga- resource repository for students, impact), with exciting presenta- nizing a series of articles about faculty, and industry partners tions, a public lecture, work- inspiring topics the task group to identify grants, conferences, shops, and courses. considered, including those and programs that support and A significant ASA Board related to autonomous vehicles, enhance diversity and inclusion. action in July was the adoption evaluating and comparing “deep The resource list will be dissemi- of a policy concerning appro- learning” algorithms, modeling nated through the ASA website. priate behavior and a mecha- environmental impacts on physi- If you would like to contribute to nism for addressing violations cal systems, and reproducibility the list now or in the future, sub- of it. That policy is in line with in science. David is also organiz- mit your ideas at https://forms.gle/ those endorsed by societies ing a statistical impact competi- dkhvp4ficjyrjTo89. such as AAAS, the Institute of tion, with entries due December The task group held its intro- Mathematical Statistics (IMS), 4. Future plans include a collab- ductory consortium meeting and the Statistical Society of orative workshop at the ASA to last month with the National Canada. The particulars may dif- pursue one or more of the topics Association of Mathematicians fer slightly, but they all agree on that emerge as the most excit- and Math Alliance (which orga- the basic principles. ing. Some avenues for broadcast- nizes the annual Field of Dreams Most exciting for all of us, ing these impacts include John conference with ASA support) 2004 ASA President Bradley Bailer’s Stats + Stories, a special and has contacted the Society Efron received the 2019 section of an ASA-sponsored for Advancement of Chicanos/ International Prize in Statistics journal, and possibly a com- Hispanics and Native Americans from Committee Chair Susan petitive impact session at future (SACNAS) to be a possible part- Ellenberg in the presence of the JSMs. Stay tuned! ner. We look forward to seeing five sponsoring societies’ 2019 Julia Sharp and her task group the results of these interactions at presidents: Helen MacGillivray are organizing a diversity and future conferences. (International Statistical inclusion consortium, a forum Jessica Utts and Jun Yang have Institute), Deborah Ashby for representatives of partner started an exciting collaboration (Royal Statistical Society), Louise societies to share best practices between statisticians and computer Ryan (International Biometric december 2019 amstat news 3 Society), Susan Murphy (IMS), Sir David Cox wrote in a 1966 Susan Ellenberg noted in her and me. In accepting the award, International Statistical Review arti- eloquent presentation at JSM Author’s note: My thanks to Barry Brad warmly congratulated the cle, “Something like a significance (as the first recipient of the F.N. Graubard and Dave statistics profession on a “clean test is needed for the essential task David award), both have served Hoaglin for their sweep”: all five societies had of checking and criticizing mod- us well in our history, and many comments on all my female presidents. els and formulating improved of our illustrious colleagues— columns. Of course, One final challenge, which I ones, a key aspect of successful past and present, frequentist and I remain responsible for their contents. hope to address in my final month applied work.” Bayesian—have relied on them. as ASA president, concerns issues For analyzing randomized The ASA should develop—and of significance, multiplicity, and clinical trials, John Tukey advised publicize—a properly endorsed reproducibility. In 2016, the ASA in a 1991 Controlled Clinical statement on these issues that published a statement that sim- Trials article, “Results are report- will guide good practice. ply reiterated what p-values are ed in terms of both amount and My late business-minded and are not. It did not recom- statistical significance.” father used to say, “The easy mend specific approaches, other Robert Abelson in 1997 noted solution to a problem employee than “good statistical practice … many things—“oboes, band saws, is to fire him.” In other words, it principles of good study design skis, and college educations”—are takes a wise manager to find the and conduct, a variety of numer- misused. He then asked, “Will we talent in an employee and guide ical and graphical summaries of want to ban effect sizes too, when him (or her) to use it accordingly. data, understanding of the phe- their misuse escalates?” And so it is with p-values. The nomenon under study, interpre- Substituting “significance” for easy way out is to abolish them. tation of results in context, com- another word (meaningful? impor- Our collective wisdom will be plete reporting and proper logical tant?) is not the solution. Indeed, needed to guide others in using and quantitative understanding as Yoav Benjamini noted in his them properly. We as statisticians of what data summaries mean.” Wald lecture given during this have work to do, and I hope you The guest editors of the year’s JSM, the real issue involves will help. March 2019 supplement to not just words, but rather criti- I end this column with grate- The American Statistician went cal statistical concepts including ful thanks to the many people further, writing: “The ASA reproducibility, confidence inter- who have left me with a lifetime Statement on P-Values and vals, and multiplicity. of memories from 2019. It would Statistical Significance stopped “Sir Ronald’s firm knowl- be hard for me to overstate the just short of recommending that edge was not one extremely signifi- impact statistics has had on me, declarations of ‘statistical significant result, but rather the ability both personally and professional- cance’ be abandoned. We take to repeatedly get results significant ly, especially this year. ASA staff, that step here. ... [I]t is time to at 5%,” according to Tukey in a the board of directors, our hard- stop using the term ‘statistically 1969 American Psychologist article. working committee and section significant’ entirely.” Tukey also wrote that a point esti- officers, and our members from Many of you have written of mate by itself is useless. And he all over the world have been ever instances in which authors and called our attention to “the prob- so collegial, informative, and gra- journal editors—and even some lem of multiple comparisons” in cious. The ASA would not exist ASA members—have mistakenly 1953 (cited for decades as “unpub- without you, our members, and assumed this editorial represented lished manuscript,” until all 300 its staff to help us move in direc- ASA policy. The mistake is under- pages appeared in Volume VIII tions not foreseen by our prede- standable: The editorial was co- of The Collected Works of John W. cessors. The research you have authored by an official of the ASA. Tukey in 1994), which inspired published, the projects you have In fact, the ASA does not endorse Benjamini and Hochberg’s false conducted, and the communica- any article, by any author, in any discovery rate in 1995. tions you have shared have taught journal—even an article written To address these issues, I hope me much and so inspired me in by a member of its own staff in a to establish a working group that my life. Thank you for welcom- journal the ASA publishes. will prepare a thoughtful and ing me as your president this Even our own ASA members concise piece reflecting “good year, and may you continue to are asking each other, “What do statistical practice,” without leav- enrich the lives of others as you we tell our collaborators when they ing the impression that p-values have so enriched my own. ask us what they should do about and hypothesis tests—and, statistical hypothesis tests and perhaps by extension as many p-values?” Should the ASA have a have inferred, statistical meth- policy on hypothesis testing or on ods generally—have no role in using “statistical significance”? “good statistical practice.” As 4 amstat news december 2019 ASA Journals in Need of Editors

Editor, Statistical Analysis and Data Mining Term: 2021–2023, with the transition beginning July–September 2020 SAM (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ journal/19321872) is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Statistical Association. SAM addresses the broad area of data analysis, including data mining algorithms, statistical approaches, and practical applications. ournals are vital to the ASA’s mission of promot- Topics include problems involving massive and ing the practice and profession of statistics, and complex data sets, solutions using innovative Jeditors are at the heart of ensuring our publica- data mining algorithms and/or novel statistical tions continue to be world leaders in statistics research approaches, and the objective evaluation of anal- and applications. yses and solutions. Of special interest are articles If you or someone you know would be a great fit that describe analytical techniques and discuss their for one of the following editorships, send your appli- application to real problems in such a way that cation or nomination to [email protected] by January they are accessible and beneficial to domain experts 10, 2020. across science, engineering, and commerce. Editor, The American Statistician SAM publishes six issues (February, April, June, August, October, December) and receives Term: 2021–2023, with the transition beginning about 120 submissions per year. n July or August 2020 The American Statistician publishes articles of general interest to the statistical profession that ordinarily are Latest Issue of Significance Asks not highly technical. The journal is organized into the following sections: Statistical Practice, General, Many Questions Teacher’s Corner, Statistical Computing and During World War II, more than 2,300 V-1 “flying bombs” fell on London, Graphics, Reviews of Books and Teaching Materials, killing an estimated 5,500 people. Londoners observed at the time that Letters, History Corner, and Interdisciplinary. bombs seemed to fall in clusters. But were these apparent clusters the For more information about The American result of targeting or random chance? Statistician, see Aims and Scope (http://bit. ly/36KNHPJ) and Editorial Board (http://bit. In the October 2019 issue of Significance, Liam P. Shaw and Luke F. Shaw ly/2Cu9A7O). follow in the footsteps of R. D. Clarke, the actuary who sought to answer this question. While telling Clarke’s story, they recreate his analysis using Editor, Journal of Quantitative Analysis in modern data science tools. Sports Also in this issue: Term: 2021–2023, with the transition beginning July–September 2020 • Mainstream media are regularly accused of being biased. But are the accusations fair? Siddhartha Dalal, Berkay Adlim, and Articles in JQAS come from a variety of sports and Michael Lesk investigate. perspectives and focus on such subjects as tourna- ment structure, frequency and occurrence of records, • Would a billion-dollar investment in improved street lighting and the optimal focus of training for decathlons. make Australian roads safer at night? Paul Marchant finds the Additionally, the journal serves as an outlet for pro- evidence wanting. fessionals in the sports world to raise issues and ask • Ahead of the American Statistical Association’s 180th birthday questions that relate to quantitative sports analysis. and the start of the 2020 US Census, Lynne Billard explores Articles come from a diverse set of disciplines, includ- the integral role the ASA has played in shaping, refining, and ing statistics, operations research, economics, psy- strengthening a central pillar of US democracy. chology, sports management, and business. Significance is online at www.significancemagazine.com. For more information about JQAS, see www. degruyter.com/view/j/jqas.

december 2019 amstat news 5 (Bio)Statistics Bachelor’s Degrees Nearly Quintuple This Decade Highlights from 2018 Degree Release

he decade of statistics continues with strong The 2018 numbers for bachelor’s degrees are 4.6 growth in the number of statistics and biosta- times than that of 2010; for master’s, two times; and tistics degrees awarded annually. According for doctoral, 1.5 times. Isolating on just biostatistics Tto the latest preliminary data release from the degrees, the growth for this decade has been a fac- National Center for Education Statistics, bachelor’s tor of 2.7 for bachelor’s (12 to 33), 2.2 for master’s, degrees grew 17 percent from 2017 to 2018 to 3,964 and 1.6 for doctoral, as shown in Figure 2. Isolating (33 of which are for biostatistics) and master’s degrees on statistics degrees, the number of annual bachelor’s increased 5 percent to 4,235 (720 for biostatistics). degrees surpassed the number of master’s degrees for Doctoral degrees increased by 11 percent to 688 (206 the first time since at least 1987 in 2017, as illus- for biostatistics), as seen in Figure 1. trated in Figure 3. The increase in the number of universities granting statistics and biostatistics degrees also continues steadily. For the period from 2017 to 2018, those granting bachelor’s degrees in statistics increased from 132 to 138, master’s degrees in statistics from 143 to 146, and doctoral degrees in statistics from 69 to 72, as seen in figures 4 and 5. Twenty-three universities granted statistics and biostatistics degrees for the first time (at least since 2003) in 2018: • Bachelor’s degrees in biostatistics (1): Saint Louis University • Bachelor’s degrees in statistics (10): Arizona Figure 1: Statistics and biostatistics degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, State University-Polytechnic, Jackson and doctoral levels in the United States for 1987–2018. The dotted lines State University, Marquette University, of matching colors are the number of degrees for that degree level The Pennsylvania State University-World earned by women. Source: NCES IPEDS Campus, Southeastern University, Texas A&M University, Truman State University, University at Buffalo, Ursinus College, Western Washington University • Master’s degrees in statistics (3): Wake Forest University, Western Illinois University, Claremont Graduate University • Master’s degrees in biostatistics (4): American University, Portland State University, University of California-San Diego, University of Miami • PhD in biostatistics (2): Southern Methodist University, University of Georgia • PhD in statistics (3): Central Michigan Figure 2: Biostatistics degrees by degree level awarded in the United University, Indiana University, Washington States. The dotted lines on matching colors are the number of degrees University for that degree level earned by women.

6 amstat news december 2019 Figure 3: Statistics degrees by degree level awarded in the United Figure 4: The number of universities granting statistics and biostatis- States. The dotted lines on matching colors are the number of tics master’s and bachelor’s degrees. Compiled from NCES IPEDS data. degrees for that degree level earned by women.

The top degree-granting institutions over the last five years are in the following tables for all cat- egories except biostatistics bachelor’s degrees. The comprehensive list is available at www.amstat.org/asa/ education/Statistics-and-Biostatistics-Degree-Data.aspx.

Tables 1–5: Top five universities granting statistics and Figure 5: The number of universities granting statistics and biostatistics biostatistics degrees for 2011–2015. PhDs. Compiled from NCES IPEDS data.

2014– 2003– Statistics PhDs 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2018 North Carolina State University 17 19 20 19 25 100 283 Iowa State University 28 14 9 18 27 96 209 University of Wisconsin 10 13 24 15 17 79 208 The Ohio State University 13 14 12 6 12 57 146 The Pennsylvania State University 9 17 14 6 9 55 151 Duke University 12 9 8 12 14 55 120 Subtotal 89 86 87 76 104 442 1117 Total 397 396 402 419 482 2096 5385

2014– 2003– Biostatistics PhDs 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2018 The University of North Carolina 22 24 16 14 17 93 205 U of Texas Health Science Center 7 19 15 13 19 73 133 Harvard University 13 12 9 14 16 64 168 University of Michigan 12 11 11 13 15 62 165 University of Pittsburgh 14 18 5 10 8 55 133 Subtotal 68 84 56 64 75 347 804 Total 151 181 185 190 201 967 2227

december 2019 amstat news 7 2014– 2003– Tables 1–5: Statistics Master’s Degrees 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2018 (continued): Top Columbia University 287 396 435 441 454 2013 3956 five universities granting statis- George Washington U 155 118 132 117 88 610 785 tics and biosta- Rutgers University 94 96 106 78 124 498 1074 tistics degrees The University of Chicago 30 28 119 99 155 431 662 for 2011–2015 University of Michigan 46 57 74 81 119 377 784 Subtotal 612 695 866 816 940 3929 7261 Total 2489 2769 3249 3366 3515 15388 32742

Biostatistics Master’s 2014– 2003– Degrees 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2018 Columbia University 34 50 68 52 84 288 442 Boston University 45 52 49 49 25 220 396 University of Michigan 24 41 32 40 49 186 421 Harvard University 16 32 36 42 28 154 244 Emory University 17 19 23 36 30 125 205 Subtotal 136 194 208 219 216 973 1708 Total 495 659 672 693 730 3249 6593

2014– 2003– Statistics Bachelor’s 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2018 UC Berkeley 160 215 174 215 226 990 1679 Purdue University 197 183 211 199 197 987 1388 University of Illinois UC 91 111 143 179 229 753 1014 UCLA 66 71 127 128 157 549 698 UC Davis 54 60 110 127 179 530 808 Subtotal 568 640 765 848 988 3809 5587 Total 2019 2367 2851 3458 4030 14725 24227

Figure 6: Percentage of statistics and biostatistics degrees Figure 7: Percentage of statistics degrees awarded to women by awarded to women by degree level for 1987–2018. Source: degree level for 1987–2018. Source: NCES IPEDS NCES IPEDS

8 amstat news december 2019 Figure 8: Percentage of master’s and PhD biostatistics degrees awarded to women for 1992–2018. Source: NCES IPEDS

Figure 9: Percentage of statistics and biostatistics degrees earned by women compared with five much larger fields. “(Bio)Statistics” is both statistics and biostatistics. Source: NCES IPEDS using CIP code 11.07 for computer science, 14.10 for electrical engineering, 26.01 for biology, 27.01 for mathematics, and 40.08 for physics

Demographics Following our practice to alternate demograph- biostatistics only. The percentage of women earning ics updates, we look at the breakdown of degrees biostatistics degrees is higher than that of men for earned by men and women this year. Last year’s all degree levels. For statistics, the percentage of men update, which was based on 2017 degree data, had earning degrees is higher at all levels. The percent- figures for the percentage of statistics and biosta- age of PhDs earned by women has declined mod- tistics degrees earned by nonresident aliens and for estly over the last decade, while the same percentage race and ethnicity data for the degrees granted to US for bachelor’s degrees has rebounded to prior lev- citizens or residents. The file with the race/ethnicity els. Nonetheless, the percentage of women earning data at www.amstat.org/asa/education/Statistics-and- statistics and biostatistics degrees is generally bet- Biostatistics-Degree-Data.aspx has been updated with ter than other quantitative STEM fields, especially the 2018 data. at the graduate degree levels and for those in the Figures 6–8 show the percentage of degrees physical, mathematical, and computer sciences, as earned by women over time by degree level for com- illustrated in Figure 9. n bined statistics and biostatistics, statistics only, and

december 2019 amstat news 9 ASA-AAAS Mass Media Fellow Shares What She Learned Diana Cai

redistributes it to low-income interesting to learn about the countries (see www.statnews. career paths everyone took, their com/2019/08/09/seeding-labs- current work, and their general equipment-research-home-coun- thoughts about journalism. tries) and one on the motivations STAT is affiliated with The and increasing trend of Chinese- Boston Globe Media company, so born, US-trained scientists we attended weekly meetings with returning to China rather than The Globe interns. We had the staying in the US long term for opportunity to learn from report- their careers (see www.statnews. ers and editors from different com/2019/09/03/amid-us-scruti- departments of The Globe—from ny-chinese-scientists-return-home). those covering breaking news to Some of the conclusions I drew features to investigative reporting. for the China story came from It was fascinating to hear about exploring a couple data sets, the range of stories covered and so having a grasp of statistics the differences in reporting styles certainly helped. Both features between departments. Cai were reprinted by The Boston During my time at STAT, I Globe. It was great to learn how improved my communication his past summer, I report- to think about and write articles skills, learned to conduct inter- ed from STAT—a in different styles. views, and developed a sense for Boston-based health and In reporting for the stories, interesting stories. Professionally, Tmedicine news outlet—as an I had the chance to learn from I enjoy science, so I am continu- ASA-AAAS Mass Media Fellow. It scientists all over the world. It ing to pursue a career in biologi- MORE ONLINE Visit the AAAS was a fantastic foray into the world was fascinating to learn about cal research. After the summer website for details: of journalism, and it was a tremen- the range of challenges afflicting interlude, I returned to drug dis- www.aaas.org/ dous opportunity to learn from different countries, as well as cul- covery research as a scientist at a fellowships/ the writers and editors at STAT. tural differences in the scientific pharmaceutical company. I work mass-media. I published six stories over the communities. My experience as a on a team of experimental and summer. A few stories arose from reporter was a great way to connect computational biologists that con- scientific studies, including one with people who I probably would ducts genetic screens to identify from an analysis of CDC survey not have had the opportunity to promising drug targets in several data that found LGBT indi- speak with and helped broaden disease areas, including oncology, viduals have an increased risk of my perspective on scientific com- immunology, and neuroscience. memory loss and confusion— munities around the world. The summer I spent as a reporter early markers of dementia—com- The other STAT summer has sharpened the questions I ask pared to their counterparts (see interns and I also met with writ- and made me a better scientist. www.statnews.com/2019/07/14/ ers and editors throughout the I do hope I will have the lgbt-memory-problems-survey- newsroom. We learned about opportunity to contribute to sci- alzheimers). Two stories I par- the different paths each took in ence writing or journalism at ticularly enjoyed working on are their careers. Some started out some point. It is so much fun, features that allowed for deeper in science journalism, while oth- and there are so many remarkable exploration of topics: one on a ers took circuitous routes and stories to tell. nonprofit organization, Seeding reported or edited other beats For anyone who recently Labs, that recycles lab equipment before ultimately winding up received or is pursuing a gradu- from high-income countries and in health and medicine. It was ate degree in a STEM field

10 amstat news december 2019 Apply for an ASA-AAAS Mass Media Fellowship ASA to Provide Ongoing Students, are you interested in journalism? Do you want an invaluable experience that Ombuds Service also advances a statistical perspective in journalism? If so, apply for the ASA-AAAS Mass PROVIDE FEEDBACK Media Fellowship (www.aaas. If you have any questions or feedback about the ombuds service, email them to org/fellowships/mass-media) Donna LaLonde at [email protected]. You may also provide comments via the and spend 10 weeks with a media outlet next summer. ASA Activities Conduct Policy Public Comment Community (http://bit.ly/2NSETyL). Applications can be found Log in to the community to make discussion posts to provide public comments, at www.aaas.org/fellowships/ which may be posted anonymously. mass-media/apply and will be accepted until January 1. he ASA strives to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. Furthering our com- Led by AAAS and supported mitment to providing an atmosphere in which personal respect by many organizations, the Tand intellectual growth are valued and the free expression and fellowship is designed to exchange of ideas are encouraged, the ASA is introducing a program “enhance coverage of science- to provide ongoing, independent, confidential ombuds services. related issues in the media in The ombuds provides support if you have experienced or are order to improve public under- aware of violations of the ASA’s Activities Conduct Policy (http://bit. standing and appreciation of ly/2K4ct3B, which now includes the ASA’s Policies and Procedures science and technology.” for Reporting, Investigating, and Adjudicating Violations (http://bit. ly/33wVgr4). The AAAS eligibility requirements include being an The ombuds will do the following: upper-level undergraduate or • Listen impartially and act as a sounding board for concerns graduate student or postdoc- • Provide general resource information and make appropriate toral trainee in a STEM field referrals and a US citizen or holder of a visa allowing paid work in the • Facilitate exploration of options and ways of moving forward United States. To be the ASA- • Coach individuals to have constructive communications sponsored AAAS Mass Media • Give sound and practical advice to empower individuals to Fellow, you must have had self-advocate substantial statistical training with a preference—but not a If the issue is not resolved through the ombuds process, the ombuds requirement—for having or will recommend the ASA pursue an investigation of the complaint. seeking a degree in statistics. What About Confidentiality? The ombuds will keep all information you provide confidential unless they assess and find an imminent risk to safety. and is interested in science They will provide entirely anonymized conflict trends and patterns communication and journalism, to the ASA to identify policy weaknesses, systemic gaps, and potential I highly recommend applying or evolving issues. for an ASA-AAAS Mass Media fellowship. Whether you already How Can I Contact the Ombuds? know you want to pursue sci- Email [email protected] and indicate whether ence journalism as a career or are you would prefer to have a telephone conversation or communicate still trying to figure out a career through this dedicated and confidential email address. path, the fellowship is a great An ombuds will respond to you as soon as possible but within three opportunity. Reporting stories is business days. n similar to conducting research in many ways, so you can put the skills you developed during grad school to good use. n

december 2019 amstat news 11 Staff Spotlight: Regina Nuzzo

Regina Nuzzo teaches her short course, “Communicating Quantitative Information Is Hard! Strategies for Success,” during this year’s Women in Statistics and Data Science Conference in Bellevue, Washington.

tatistics is fun, fascinating, and powerful.” program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, That’s the message Regina Nuzzo, the new where she learned to write about math, science, and senior advisor for statistics communication health for a variety of audiences. Her feature article andS media innovation at the American Statistical about p-values (https://go.nature.com/2p4HVHM) Association, plans to share with a wide variety of earned her the American Statistical Association’s audiences. In this newly created role tailored to her 2014 Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award, expertise, Nuzzo will help the ASA improve com- and she facilitated the working group that produced munication of statistics policy issues, bring more the precedent-setting 2016 ASA p-values statement statistics to journalists and journalism, and enhance (http://bit.ly/34GjWxC ). Her writing has appeared public engagement and communication skills for in such publications as The New York Times, Los statisticians and statistics students. Angeles Times, ESPN the Magazine, Reader’s Most recently, Nuzzo was a professor at Gallaudet Digest, Scientific American, New Scientist, Science University, where she had been on the faculty since News, and Nature. 2006. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial We wanted to know more about Nuzzo, so we engineering from the University of South Florida asked her the following questions and she graciously and a PhD in statistics from Stanford University. answered, offering us a window into her communi- She is also a 2004 graduate of the science writing cation style.

12 amstat news december 2019 People are starting to realize that there You have an unusual background as a statistician and science journalist. Do these two fields needs to be more focus on the effective complement each other, and if so how? Statisticians and science journalists are more alike communication of statistical information, and than you might think! In statistics, we find the sig- nal in the noise; in science journalism, we find the they’re looking for help to make that happen. story among the facts. It’s a similar mindset: Given a mass of messy information, what’s most important? What’s most useful? What’s still unknown? Statistics is actually great training for journalism, and vice versa. effective communication of statistical information, and they’re looking for help to make that happen. During the Women in Statistics and Data Science This new position is just one way the ASA is being MORE ONLINE Conference, you participated in a panel called proactive and innovative and taking a lead in this You can follow “Working and Thriving with Disability in the area. It’s very exciting. Regina on Twitter Statistical Sciences.” How did it feel to discuss @ReginaNuzzo. What are your priorities for this role? your disability? What are some of the issues The role is still evolving, but right now I have three you have had to deal with in your career Reach out to main priorities: one, to bring more knowledge and Nuzzo at regina@ regarding your deafness? experience with statistics to journalists; two, to amstat.org. That panel was a terrific experience. There were bring more opportunities and experience with com- four of us participating with a large audience, and munication to statisticians; and, three, help share for some of us, it was the first time we’d discussed more of the fun and power of statistics with the gen- our disability in public. We all had lunch together eral public. I’m really looking forward to working and bonded over our shared experiences. I was real- with members on projects for these areas! At JSM, ly proud to be part of that group! One interesting I talked with a lot of members who were really pas- thing is we all experience cognitive drain. For me, I sionate about good communication and got some use a cochlear implant and read lips, but still, listen- great suggestions from them. Everyone is always ing to someone is always a matter of dealing with welcome to drop me a line or give me a call to chat missing information. It feels like trying to do cross- more about the media or stats communication. word puzzles in real time. The more clues I have the better—like having a good Bayesian prior!—but it’s Can you give us any “sneak peeks” of projects you never easy. I’m always working to fill in the gaps, are working on? and that means less brainpower left over for other Here’s something that hasn’t been announced important things. widely yet: the new Interest Group for Quantitative Communication. We already have more than 100 Tell me a little about your role as the ASA signatures on the petition! The proposed charter Senior Advisor for Statistics Communication is going to the Council of Sections representatives and Media Innovation. for feedback and then to the Council of Sections First of all, it’s a brand-new position with a brand- Governing Board for a final vote. If it’s approved, new approach—there’s nothing else like this out it’ll give an official home to ASA members interested there. Over the past decade, the communication in communicating data, statistics, and other quanti- of scientific information has grown in visibility and tative information in all kinds of formats—written importance: There are research centers, training language, spoken language, visualization, and any- programs, journalism jobs, even faculty positions thing else you can think of. I think this is going to dedicated to science communication. My dream meet a real need, both within the ASA and beyond. is for statistics communication to be recognized as If anyone is interested in getting more involved with just as important, if not more so. People are starting setting up this “Quant Comm” Interest Group, get to realize that there needs to be more focus on the in touch! n

december 2019 amstat news 13 June CNSTAT Workshop Focused on Privacy

Jerry Reiter, Lars Vilhuber, and Tom Krenzke, ASA Privacy and Confidentiality Committee Members

or decades, federal statistical data to breach data confidentiality. now of Georgetown University— agencies have striven to bal- A key takeaway from the introduc- created with the National Science ance the legal and ethical tory talks was how difficult it is to Foundation when he was the head obligationsF to protect the confi- feel confident data are safe, as there of the Census Bureau. dentiality of data subjects with the are always attack strategies agen- The audience saw a tutorial need to provide informative statis- cies may not conceive of when on differential privacy and heard MORE ONLINE A link to the tics and access to data for second- applying legacy disclosure pro- from a panel of experts about what workshop ary analysis. In recent years, bal- tection methods. Indeed, one of can and cannot be done. These program, including ancing these objectives has the appealing promises of formal sessions offered several takeaways. presentations, is at become increasingly difficult. The privacy approaches is to augment First, there exist many differen- http://bit.ly/2CrAX2I. digital revolution has seen an confidence in the data protection. tially private algorithms that can explosion in the growth of avail- Another takeaway is that it can be handle many statistical tasks, from able data, both from public and useful for agencies to have friendly counting to regression modeling. private sources, which ill-inten- hackers attack their databases and Second, differentially private tioned actors could use to compro- assess their vulnerabilities. algorithms are not panaceas. In mise confidentiality protections. Participants heard from agency particular, there are data dis- With these challenges in mind, heads and staff about challenges semination tasks for which no the Committee on National they face in trying to put disclo- differentially private algorithms Statistics (CNSTAT) of the sure avoidance into practice. One exist that produce outputs with National Academy of Sciences challenge that was often repeated high enough quality to be fit held a workshop June 6–7 to dis- was the human capital and staffing for use. It is clear there is still cuss new approaches to protect- challenge. Agency staff have many much research to be done in ing data confidentiality, with a responsibilities, and for many practical implementations of focus on methods that offer for- agencies, disclosure avoidance is differential privacy. mal guarantees of privacy protec- not a primary job assignment. Another important takeaway, tion such as differential privacy. This a difficult challenge to over- mentioned multiple times, is The discussions covered policy come; however, it may be possible that agencies should think about and implementation issues from for agencies to leverage expertise differentially private algorithms both provider and user perspec- in academia and the private sec- as supplementary tools in the tives, including the promises and tor through partnerships. For disclosure protection toolkit, limitations of using formal pri- example, many of the computer not as all-encompassing replace- vacy methods. scientists involved in modernizing ments. Agencies do not necessar- The workshop began with the disclosure control methods ily have to take an all-or-nothing examples of potential disclosures for the 2020 decennial census are approach. For certain problems, from data protected by legacy on the Census Bureau payroll as differential privacy is an achiev- disclosure protection methods. part-time, Schedule A employees. able criterion. For others, agen- The examples highlighted how ill- Another example of partnerships cies may—as a policy matter— intentioned actors can use infor- is the National Census Research use other solutions or hybrid mation external to the released Network, which Robert Groves— solutions. One presentation

14 amstat news december 2019 provided evidence that modern privacy protection methods may not add much error compared to 2019 FTC Focus: Setting other sources of error. The second day started with a the Standard for panel involving users and stakeholders. Panel members stressed the importance of involving user Success in Quality communities and stakeholders Adam L. Pintar, 2019 FTC General Committee Chair in the decisions for privacy policies. Agencies must help their user communities and stake- he 63rd annual Fall holders understand the impacts Technical Conference of changes in privacy protection (FTC) was held at the methods on the types of analy- TNational Institute of Standards ses and decision tasks they care and Technology (NIST) in about. A key theme underlying Gaithersburg, Maryland, many of the talks was that it is September 25–27. The FTC no longer acceptable for agencies brings together researchers and and other data stewards to sim- practitioners from academia, ply say “here’s the data, we know industry, and government to best how to make it, now you discuss ways to more effectively can use it.” Recent agency chang- use statistical methods for es in privacy protection methods research, innovation, and quali- have inspired analysts to ask more ty improvement. questions about the impact of the The conference theme, There were many highlights MORE ONLINE agency’s actions—including edit- “Statistics: Setting the Standard besides the plenary and lunch ses- For more information ing, imputation, and privacy pro- for Success in Quality,” high- sions. A session by Ron Wasserstein about the 2019 conference, including the tection—on inferences. lighted the deep connections and Allen Schirm about the conference’s sponsors Many audience questions between statistics, standards, ASA’s statement on p-values, and exhibitors, visit www. focused on what one might call and quality. Three short courses titled “Time to Say Goodbye to falltechnicalconference. policy decisions. Panelists raised were held September 25, with Statistical Significance,” gener- org/program2019. those issues, as well. In particu- topics in experiment design ated discussions that continued lar, who decides what the privacy (Martin Beezner of Stat-Ease), into the evening social activities. budget is? What are the implica- functional data analysis (Jiguo The Friday afternoon panel ses- tions for having to allocate that Cao of Simon Fraser University), sion sponsored by SPES and titled budget? If we’re going to run and statistical process control “Training the Next Generation of out of the budget for a data set, (William Conover of Texas Tech Statisticians: What Do They Need are we going to have to let that University and Victor Tercero- to Know?” also led to a vigorous data source expire? One panelist Gómez of Tecnológico de discussion and was a great way to mentioned users were comfort- Monterrey México). close the conference. able with deviations from the There were four plenary and Next year’s conference with the confidential data estimates in lunch speakers. Peter Parker from theme is “Mining for Quality with one case. This inspired questions NASA opened the conference Statistics and Data Science” will be around what it means to have Thursday morning by discuss- held October 7–9, 2020, in Park acceptable deviations. ing his experience with the rise of City, Utah. It will be chaired by The final session comprised statistics and statistical thinking Richard Warr of Brigham Young lightning talks. Staff from vari- at NASA. ASA President Karen University. Conference infor- ous agencies and other organi- Kafadar spoke Thursday during mation and the call for papers zations gave five-minute pre- the lunch session about eyewit- are posted at www.falltechnical sentations about challenges and ness reliability, and Jim Filliben conference.org. Abstracts for the solutions they’re working on for of NIST gave the W.J. Youden contributed program must be issues in privacy. Address Thursday afternoon. The submitted through the website CNSTAT plans to continue Friday lunch speaker was John by February 29, 2020. If you are the conversation on privacy in Butler of NIST. He introduced interested in getting involved, future activities. This is a critical and screened an Emmy-winning contact Richard Warr for poten- issue facing all statistical agencies short film about Wilmer Souder, tial opportunities using the con- and is at the core of many agen- a pioneer in forensic science. tact feature on the website. n cies’ missions. n . december 2019 amstat news 15 New Graduate Data Science Programs, Continued

The proliferation of master’s and doctoral programs in data science and analytics continues, seemingly due to the insatiable demand of employers for data scientists. Amstat News started reaching out several years ago to those in the statistical community who are involved in such programs to find out more. Given their interdisciplinary nature, we identified programs involving faculty with expertise in different disciplines—including statistics, given its foundational role in data science—to jointly reply to our questions.

a culminating capstone course to prepare a thesis involving innovative data analysis or related to an internship experience. Opportunities for internships UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH and assistantships are available as hourly employment. The program was developed with substantial input from faculty in statistics, computing Ada O. Youk is associate professor and information sciences, bioinformatics, and human genetics. of biostatistics and director of the Graduates of the MS Program in Biostatistics master’s program in biostatistics. will be able to do the following: • Address health problems by appropriate problem definition, study design, data collection, data management, statistical analysis, and MS in Biostatistics with Concentration in Health Data interpretation of results Science (HDS) www.publichealth.pitt.edu/biostatistics/ academics/ms/hds-concentration • Demonstrate mastery of the theory underlying statistical methods Year in which first students graduated/expected to graduate: 2021 • Implement and utilize appropriate statistical methods Number of students currently enrolled: Fall 2020 will be the inaugural class of new HDS students. Two BIOST MS • Effectively communicate results of biostatistical analyses to scientific and lay audiences students transferred to the HDS concentration when it was made available to current students this fall. • Apply research design principles to problems in public health Describe the basic elements of your • Recognize strengths and weaknesses of data science/analytics curriculum and approaches, including alternative designs, data how the curriculum was developed. sources, and analytic methods This is an in-person program with 40 credit hours. • Determine the data best suited to address Prerequisite coursework includes two semesters public health issues, program planning, and of calculus and exposure to basic programming. program evaluation Students in our program can be full time or part In addition, students in the HDS concentration time. The curriculum consists of courses in the fun- will be able to do the following: damentals of statistical theory and applications, programming languages (e.g., SQL, R, SAS, Python), • Apply data curation and data management data science, machine learning and database manage- techniques such as data munging, data scraping, sampling, and cleaning to construct ment, a statistical consulting practicum, epidemiol- informative, usable, and manageable data sets ogy, and public health. The program also includes for meaningful analyses

16 amstat news december 2019 What advice do you have for students • Apply methods for big data and machine considering a data science/analytics learning to reveal patterns, trends, and asso- degree? ciations including visualization Students should have a solid foundation in calculus, • Effectively use a programming language (e.g., an interest in statistics and programming, and a pas- R and/or Python) for data management and sion for public health. statistical analysis Students who graduate from our program will be able to handle all aspects of “big data”—including What was your primary motivation(s) curation and management—and collaborate effec- for developing a master’s data science/ tively with a researcher’s questions through excellent statistical communication skills and translating analytics program? What’s been the between scientific questions and hypotheses and reaction from students so far? statistical concepts and results. They will also be We have successfully trained students for many able to perform robust computational and/or statis- years in traditional biostatistical theory and meth- tical methods and effectively communicate analyti- ods. However, the field of biostatistics is constantly cal results that are statistically and scientifically valid evolving. Advances in technology in biomedical as well as understandable. Thus, students enrolling and public health research are generating complex in our program will receive a comprehensive educa- high-dimensional and large-volume data. Standard tion—more so than what a separate degree in data biostatistical and computational methods are not science could offer—that will prepare them well to always feasible, or even appropriate, for analyzing and enter the modern job market. interpreting such data. To address the needs of modern high-dimensional science, computationally inten- Describe the employer demand for sive statistical methods have become a fundamental your graduates/students. part of scientific research and a critical component in Indications from job searches on Indeed, advancing public health. We created our concentra- ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor—as well as discus- tion in health data science to keep pace with scientific sions with local employers—are that demand will needs and train graduate students properly for the be high. In fact, Glassdoor ranks data scientist as the evolving job market while ensuring a rigorous statisti- #1 best job in America for 2019 and Forbes states, cal foundation with traditional methodologies. “IBM predicts demand for data scientists will soar The response from our students has been over- 28 percent by 2020.” whelmingly positive. Students are excited to master techniques that will set them up for success in the Do you have any advice for institutions modern job market. considering the establishment of such a degree? How do you view the relationship between statistics and data science/ Institutions must be willing to put extensive time analytics? and effort into the research and creation of the new program. There must be a shared vision with all Statistics and data science are complementary. It collaborating parties on what is best for your students is our philosophy that you cannot have one with- and how to train them properly for a competitive out the other. For this reason, we chose to create job market. a concentration in health data science rather than We chose to start with our strength (biostatistics) a separate degree in data science. A concentration and expand from there. We researched other programs added to our traditional MS degree keeps a core of around the country and met with and received input traditional biostatistical theory and methods while from faculty within our university who had comple- giving a unique focus in data science techniques mentary expertise. This allowed us to collaborate with combined with a central theme of public health. departments within and outside of our school and create a strong cross-disciplinary degree. What types of jobs are you preparing In addition to our new HDS concentration, we your graduates for? also created a genomics-focused cross-disciplinary Health data scientist, biostatistician, bioinformatician. concentration: statistical and computational genomics (www.publichealth.pitt.edu/biostatistics/academics/ ms/scg-concentration).

december 2019 amstat news 17 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY degrees. The certificate consists of four courses (12 Distinguished Professor Jeff Gill focuses on hours) in R for data science, regression, and sta- Bayesian hierarchical models, nonparametric tistical machine learning. This certificate was well received by students and became the technical core Bayesian models, elicited prior development as we looked to expand the program into a mas- from expert interviews, and fundamental ter’s degree. We formed an advisory board for the issues in statistical inference. He is co-director data science program prior to launching the master’s of the data science master’s degree program degree with representatives of both business and at American University. government agencies. This advisory board helped form and improve the curriculum, as well as give guidance regarding internships and employment for Jane Wall had extensive software industry our students. experience before earning her PhD at Rice American University’s master of science in data University in computational and applied science program prepares students to acquire, pro- mathematics. She initiated the data science cess, analyze, and present complex data. Students program and teaches R and data science. will master both the theoretical knowledge and She is codirector of the data science master’s practical skills used by data scientists in academia, industry, and government. Core courses such as degree program at American University. statistical machine learning, data science, and statistical programming in R train students to clean, process, visualize, and archive modern data sets— Master of Science in Data Science www.american.edu/ including text, imagery, and biometric data— apply machine learning algorithms to real data; programs/shared/data-science/index.cfm and www.american. and use the mathematical and statistical language edu/spa/data-science of data scientists. Year in which first students graduated/expected to We strongly believe data science is not just a graduate: We will have our first student graduate this technical field. Students need to understand the December, even though the program only officially started this field their data belongs to in order to ask the right year, because we had students who converted from a certificate questions and deal with strange results or outliers in an effective manner. They must also be able to program to the full master’s program and had advanced communicate their results to the nontechnical audi- through their coursework extensively. ence. To accomplish this, each student will choose Number of students currently enrolled: 48 an applied field in which they will analyze data and explain the associated issues in that field, culmi- Partnering departments (indicate lead, if any): College of nating in their capstone experience in their final Arts and Sciences, School of Public Affairs semester. Students take nine hours in their appli- Program format: In-person; 30 credit hours required; cation track during their program. There are nine capstone course (Data Science Practicum) required for available tracks for students to specialize in: applied graduation; full-time and part-time options available public affairs, business analytics, computer science, cybersecurity, environmental science, finance, international economic relations, investigative journalism, and microeconomic analysis. Describe the basic elements of your Students are not expected to have extensive back- data science/analytics curriculum and ground knowledge of mathematics, but are required how the curriculum was developed. to attend a mathematics “boot camp” prior to the • Required for admission: undergraduate degree start of the program. This is an important compo- in any major with 3.0 and basic statistics nent of the program because we do not restrict the course (no GRE or letters of recommendation) bachelor’s degree: Any accredited bachelor’s degree is acceptable, meaning that we welcome students with • 30-hour program—full or part-time, includ- backgrounds in the humanities, social sciences, and ing nine hours in application track and a STEM fields. The program is designed to provide three-hour capstone an “easy on-ramp,” meaning prior advanced knowl- In 2016, American University developed a edge of mathematics, statistics, and computer sci- graduate certificate in data science as both a stand- ence is not required. The program guides students alone program and a complement to other graduate who are new to data science using principles from

18 amstat news december 2019 a basic starting point all the way through required How do you view the relationship cutting-edge content like machine learning, math- between statistics and data science/ ematical statistics, and advanced data handling. analytics? Furthermore, we eschew traditional academic con- It is a well-known truism that data science is an straints that raise barriers to convenient entry: There umbrella term that encompasses statistics, comput- is no GRE requirement and admissions are done on er science, data processing, business/government a rolling basis. We believe data science training in analytics, and even some subfields of mathematics. the 21st century should not be constrained by con- Therefore, it is difficult to see any one traditional ventions established for a different era. academic department “owning” a data science pro- In 2018, AU established its Center for Data gram. Elements of traditional statistics graduate Science to focus on the theoretical and practical education will always be a core component of data research aspects of computer technology, software science training. We need to teach probability, sam- engineering, computer architecture, artificial intel- pling, estimation, inference, data reduction, testing, ligence, simulation, modeling, and related topics. decision theory, design, regression, and assessment. The center hosts workshops and talks from leading This foundation of statistics knowledge will experts in data science from around the world. Our not change. But a standard statistical agenda alone students and faculty can further their knowledge by does not help create the type of cutting-edge data participating in these events. Part of the mission of scientists employers crave. These topics should be the center is to develop graduate education oppor- complemented with data wrangling; visualization; tunities. In this case, the center worked closely with presentation; and the machine learning topics of the department of mathematics and statistics and classification, clustering, dimensionality reduction, the department of government to help develop the reinforcement learning, and natural language pro- data science master’s program. This arrangement cessing. But expertise and ability in the combina- has worked out well, as the Center for Data Science tion of these skills requires computational skills, is able to provide administrative and institutional especially programming. support for the master’s program outside of a single Steve Jobs famously said that “everybody in traditional departmental structure. this country should learn to program a computer, What was your primary motivation(s) because it teaches you how to think.” Naturally, this for developing a master’s data science/ is even more true for those who need to turn data into information. Therefore, computer science edu- analytics program? What’s been the cation will always be a key component of training reaction from students so far? data scientists. Research in the physical sciences and engineering The future of data science is not going to be were the engines of human development in the strictly in rectangular data files, data dictionaries, 20th century. We conquered the atom, traveled to and PDF codebooks. We have already seen a revolu- the moon, developed digital computation and the tion in text analysis, biometric measurement, inter- internal combustion air-breathing jet engine. We net traffic, and large-scale social network data, just discovered laser and fiber optic telephony, provided to name a few. Size is also a challenge for provid- widespread electrification, and other important ers and analyzers of data since users will demand technical milestones. Conversely, the 21st century enhanced access to extremely large data collections is shaping up to be dominated by the social and such as genomics, Facebook, global satellite imagery biomedical/health sciences. Data access and data collections, vector GIS, and internet traffic. Data analysis will play an indispensable part in our prog- science, even from its infancy, is much more focused ress in understanding social, psychological, and on the problems associated with big data than tradi- physiological characteristics of what it means to tional statistical work. be human. Our motivation is to train people who want to engage with the data revolution that is well What types of jobs are you preparing underway in modern society. We are excited to pro- your graduates for? vide high-intensity training in a geographic location We look at this in two ways. First, our core cur- that is at the epicenter of this rapidly changing envi- riculum of seven courses (21 credits) is focused on ronment: More data may be produced inside the the key elements that a data scientist needs in any Capital Beltway than outside of it. relevant job: data wrangling, statistical inference, Students have been enthusiastic about the pro- statistical modeling, software expertise, machine gram so far. They recognize that they are the first learning tools, and communication. cohort, which means we are listening to their input Since we also want to prepare students to do and the program is evolving. this kind of work in their area of interest, we have

december 2019 amstat news 19 nine applied tracks consisting of three courses (nine a unique new offering. On the technical scale, with credits): public affairs, business analytics, computer regard to mathematical statistics, it sits between the science, cybersecurity, environmental science/GIS, traditional statistics master’s here and the data analytics finance, international economic relations, investigative program in the Kogod School of Business. journalism, and microeconomic analysis. We offer more traditional graduate statistical con- We are also working to add more of these applied tent than data analytics and more applied hands-on tracks over the next few years. In our conversations data analysis than statistics. While programming is with employers, we learned that the combination an important component of data science, we do not of technical skills and experience working with believe in requiring courses on software design, system the exact type of data used in their institutions is a organization, prototyping, or operating system theory, sought-after profile. which are not central to data science in daily practice. Having said that, we have a computer science track in What advice do you have for students the program that allows students interested in going considering a data science/analytics in that direction to take three courses (nine credits) degree? of computer science graduate courses such as database Data science is such a rapidly evolving field that there management, object-oriented programming, and is an incredibly varied set of programs offered by uni- computer networks. versities. Students should consider several important Describe the employer demand for your features that will differ widely across programs. First, look at the prerequisites. Some programs will expect graduates/students. a relatively high level of mathematics, statistics, and It is well known that jobs in data science are available programming experience before starting classes. If stu- in every sector: industry, government, and academia. dents do not meet these levels, it could be challenging Every sector in the global economy is using data to to keep up from the start. make better management and policy decisions. Forbes Second, consider what applied tracks or applied and Glassdoor ranked data scientist as the number one foci are offered. Is there an ability to add applied data job in America for the last three years, with a median science in an area you are interested in? This can be base salary of $120,931. There is no perceivable end crucial for students who have a specific career goal to this trend. for after the degree. For example, some data analyt- While we are a young program, we have already ics programs are offered through business schools (as been approached by many institutions requesting con- done here at American University in a completely dif- tact with graduates or near-graduates. Part of this, of ferent program than ours). This often means all the course, is our geographic location in the center of the examples will be drawn from business problems. So, data-generation world. The important part is employ- for example, a student interested in applying data sci- ers can look at our curriculum for the MS in data science principles to biomedical questions will likely be ence online and see the key skills they require. This is unsatisfied with this component of the program. by design, since we spent time with these employers Third, look at the placement outcomes. Is there during the design of the program working to under- a university placement office the data science pro- stand their needs. gram works with in a targeted fashion? If the program has been around for more than a few years, Do you have any advice for institutions what is the placement record? Does the program considering the establishment of such a liaise with local employers? Notice this last set of degree? questions will distinguish in-person versus online Our primary advice is to understand your market. The programs to a great extent. data science market is different in Washington than it Fourth, when are classes offered? This is less of a is in Duluth. Data science is the quintessential 21st- concern with online programs, but many students century skill, but the way graduates are going to use pursuing a data science master’s or related degree those skills will differ dramatically based on region, want to continue working full time and still enroll economy, and institution. in a face-to-face program. Within the university, it is critical to have senior Finally, look at the backgrounds of the core fac- administration buy-in from the start. We reached a ulty teaching in the program. They are likely to critical juncture when it became apparent there would emphasize concepts that have been important in be no department credit-taking and multiple units their research and occupational background. Are needed to cooperate or it would not get done. It also these areas important to you? helped that departments outside the founding units When we were designing the MS in data science could propose an applied track and therefore partici- here at AU, we were circumspect about positioning it pate in a positive way without having to be part of the away from other currently offered degrees so to have 21-credit core. 20 amstat news december 2019 Master of Science in Data Science www.vanderbilt.edu/ VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY datascience/academics/msprogram/program-details Program contact: Amanda Harding, assistant director of the Data Science Institute and program coordinator, datascience- [email protected] Year in which first students graduated/expected to graduate: First class was fall 2019; graduation in spring 2021 Number of students currently enrolled: 31 in our first cohort

Partnering departments (indicate lead, if any): The From left: Jeffrey Blume, Douglas Schmidt, Amanda Harding, and MS program is housed in the Data Science Institute (DSI) at Andreas Berlind. Photo by Joe Howell Vanderbilt University, which is a multi-disciplinary unit that serves all schools and colleges at Vanderbilt University and Jeffrey D. Blume founded and directed Vanderbilt’s graduate Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The departments of program in biostatistics before establishing the data science biostatistics, biomedical informatics, computer science, physics MS program. His research is on second-generation p-values, and astronomy, and political science have all made significant likelihood methods, large-scale inference, false discovery contributions to the DSI and MS program. rates, mediation modeling, clinical trials, and prediction Program leadership: The director of graduate education for modeling with missing data. the data science master’s program is Jeffrey D. Blume. The Data Douglas Schmidt is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor Science Institute has two codirectors: Andreas Berlind, associate of Computer Science, associate provost for research, and professor of physics and astronomy, and Douglas Schmidt, co-chair of the Data Science Institute (DSI). His research professor of computer science. focuses on software patterns and optimizations that facilitate Program format: The program is a two-year, four-semester development of mission-critical middleware and mobile full-time program that includes the completion and cloud computing applications. presentation of a capstone project. Amanda Harding is the assistant director of the DSI and MS program coordinator. Describe the basic elements of your data Andreas Berlind is an associate professor of physics science/analytics curriculum and how the and astronomy and the director of graduate studies in curriculum was developed. astrophysics. His research focuses on measuring and modeling Data science is an interdisciplinary field focused on the clustering of galaxies in the universe using data from extracting knowledge and enabling discovery from telescopes and computationally intensive simulations. complex data. In our view, data science is a fusion of principles from statistics and computer science applied in domain-specific contexts. As such, critical thinking, communication, problem-solving program, and students learn to think about and skills, and domain-specific knowledge are empha- apply statistical rigor computationally. There is sized throughout the curriculum. also equal emphasis on statistical inference and We were fortunate to have the opportunity prediction concepts, as both play a role for suc- to create brand-new courses for the entire MS cessful data science practitioners. program. Because we did not have to repurpose Students are trained in three core areas (i.e., existing classes, our curriculum is modern and computation, data analysis, and practice), with an highly focused on the essential elements of statis- emphasis on imparting practical experience and tics and computer science that are relevant in the sharpening soft-skills (e.g., teamwork, communica- data science space. tion, leadership). The three core sequences (consist- In addition, we take a fully computational ing of four classes each) are the following: approach to teaching statistical principles. Limit 1. Computation: focuses on programming, data theorems, assumptions, and fitting routines are structures, computer systems, and methods all introduced, illustrated, and proven computa- 2. Data Analysis: focuses on data exploration, tionally. Resampling and Monte-Carlo techniques analysis, model building, prediction, inference, play a key role in the practice of statistics in our and algorithms

december 2019 amstat news 21 3. Practice: focuses on teamwork, communica- cal principles in both inference and prediction are tion skills, interpretation skills, case-studies, essential for successful data scientists and analytic ethical standards, and cultural awareness experts. We have eased the traditional theoretical The computation and data analysis sequences are training and added a requirement that students intentionally not labeled as computer science or sta- demonstrate a working computational knowledge tistics sequences. Faculty from multiple departments of, and an ability to apply, these principles in tradi- across Vanderbilt teach in both sequences, and con- tional data analysis and machine learning (predic- cepts are reinforced across sequences. The traditional tion) contexts. We emphasize reproducible research, discipline-specific allegiances are purposely blurred R and Python programming skills, and strong under- in the classroom, just as they are in practice. standing of the principle of sampling distributions Prospective students must possess a BA or BS, and resampling techniques. Our program has a stron- submit GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and ana- ger computational flavor than most statistics MS pro- lytical writing), three letters of recommendation, grams, and we tried to do this without sacrificing the and a statement of purpose. The minimum require- introduction and analysis of key statistical principles. ments for admission are the following: What types of jobs are you preparing • Single variable calculus (one semester) your graduates for? • Programming skill (past courses or profes- We are preparing our students for jobs that require sional experience) strong problem-solving and communication skills. Our students will be well positioned to lead inter- • Experience with data analysis (past courses or disciplinary teams to solve real-world problems. professional experience) Jobs in industry, government, academia, and the • Evidence of computational experience nonprofit sector are all possible. What was your primary motivation(s) for What advice do you have for students developing a master’s data science/ana- considering a data science/analytics lytics program? What’s been the reaction degree? from students so far? Our program is designed to be a professional degree; We proposed a Master of Science program in data it is not designed to be a lead-in to a PhD program. science to leverage Vanderbilt’s existing expertise Students should learn to think like a scientist and in biostatistics, biomedical informatics, comput- then program, simulate, evaluate, and communicate er science, and other disciplines, as well as blend results accordingly. Students should be comfortable Vanderbilt’s big data, quantitative, and computa- programming large and complex computational tional expertise from numerous departments and tasks in several languages, simulating data that can programs across the university. be used to evaluate methods, summarizing compu- Our program has just enrolled its first cohort tational experiments in plain language, and working this year. We have 31 students with a wide variety online to make analyses and reporting reproducible. of backgrounds (e.g., computer science, statistics, math, journalism, anthropology, environmental Describe the employer demand for your science, quantitative psychology). The students are graduates/students. happy, engaged, passionate, and hard working. We Students have not graduated yet, but judging from have received a lot of positive feedback and valuable local interest for interns, we expect strong demand. constructive criticism that we are using to improve the program. Do you have any advice for institutions considering the establishment of such a How do you view the relationship degree? between statistics and data science/ Focus on interdisciplinary projects and find com- analytics? mon ground between disciplines. The impact of Obviously, they are intertwined. Our view is that a your work is directly proportional to how accessible working and computational knowledge of statisti- it is to those beyond your discipline.

22 amstat news december 2019 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Marc Scott is professor of applied statistics at NYU and codirector of the MS program in applied statistics for social science research MS in Applied Statistics for Social Science Research (A3SR) (A3SR). Scott also codirects the Center for Concentrations exist in Data Science for Social Impact and Practice and Research at the Intersection Computational Methods https://research.steinhardt.nyu.edu/ash/ of Information, Society, and Methodology applied_statistics (PRIISM), which is closely aligned with the Year in which the first students graduated/are expected A3SR MS program. to graduate: 2016 Number of students currently enrolled: 47 Jennifer Hill is professor of applied statistics Partnering departments: Applied statistics, social science, and at NYU and codirector of the MS program in the humanities applied statistics for social science research. Program format: In person; variable credit hours (34–44); She also codirects PRIISM. optional thesis; mix of full-time and part-time students; mix of traditional and nontraditional students; internship required and many assistantships available

Describe the basic elements of your data science/analytics curriculum and how the data or growth curves; survey research methods curriculum was developed. or experimental design; generalized linear models The A3SR curriculum was developed after speak- and applied probability. Additionally, each student ing with colleagues at other universities about their selects one of the following concentrations for three MS programs in statistics and data science. It was to four additional specialized courses: data science also informed by many years that both codirectors for social impact; computational methods; or gen- have spent collaborating with scholars in the social, eral applied statistics. Students are also encouraged to behavioral, health, education, and policy sciences. explore interest areas with three to four electives in sta- Finally, it was and continues to be strongly influ- tistics and beyond. Finally, all students complete the enced by feedback from employers, particularly in culminating experience of statistical consulting while the government and not-for-profit sectors. completing a related internship or research project. The feedback we heard was that graduates of MS What was your primary motivation(s) for programs in data science or statistics too often 1) developing a master’s data science/ana- are not readily able to apply what they learned in the classroom with real data for real problems, 2) lytics program? What’s been the reaction are not prepared to learn/discover new approaches from students so far? or create new solutions once in the field, 3) think Given our success in training doctoral-level social they can solve an agency’s problems with a model and behavioral scientists in statistical methods, our or algorithm, 4) need better training in data clean- deans encouraged us to develop an MS program. ing and reproducible coding practices, and 5) are We decided we would only create a program if we not skilled at effectively communicating with their could design it in a way that would be tailored to employers (this includes listening, writing, speaking students and goals not addressed in many traditional informally, and presenting formally). Our course statistics programs. We also noted that some of the requirements augment a more traditional statistics most popular MS programs in data science down- curriculum to directly address these concerns. In play statistics training, which leaves their students at addition, we offer additional courses in modern a disadvantage when employers assume they under- machine learning algorithms that are increasingly stand the basics of inference, hypothesis testing, and popular in both industry and other sectors. uncertainty quantification, let alone critical skills All MS students are required to take the follow- like research design, sampling, and measurement. ing core courses: intermediate quantitative methods; Finally, given the increasing importance of collabo- multivariate analysis; data science for social impact; ration and interdisciplinarity, we wanted to focus on causal inference; a practicum in statistical com- skills that directly aid in working with people across puting and simulation; multilevel models: nested fields and backgrounds.

december 2019 amstat news 23 Our graduates have been

highly successful at getting What types of jobs are you preparing your graduates for? jobs after graduating. Our students typically work as data scientists, research scientists, or consultants in the public or private sector to improve society at organizations like MDRC, Vera Institute of Justice, New York State Attorney General’s Office, Global Ties for A3SR has small cohort sizes (20–25 per year) so Children at NYU, Center for Education Policy we have the opportunity to get to know all our stu- Research at Harvard University, International dents. Our students are smart, motivated, and love Rescue Committee, and UNICEF. Additionally, to learn new things. They are the types of students our alumni are doctoral candidates in the follow- who want to probe deeper and who are adept at fig- ing programs: biostatistics at Harvard University; uring out how to teach themselves new ideas, meth- statistics at the University of California, Berkeley; ods, and programming languages so their learning statistics at Hong Kong University; sociology at extends far beyond the classroom. In addition, our New York University; and international education students are supportive and collaborative—often at New York University. working together to solve problems or complete projects. In fact, during a recruiting session for Describe the employer demand for your the program two years ago, one of our students graduates/students. described A3SR as having a “warm, supportive, and loving environment.” Music to our ears! Our graduates have been highly successful at getting jobs after graduating. As our program matures How do you view the relationship and more organizations have interactions with our between statistics and data science/ students through internships, summer jobs, or analytics? project-based consulting, we are steadily increasing the number of employers who actively seek out our We define data science as the use of data to under- students to hire. stand and have an impact on the world. This includes how data are collected (e.g., sampling, Do you have any advice for institutions scraping, research design, survey design, measure- considering the establishment of such a ment) and turned into meaningful inputs (e.g., degree? cleaning, measurement, covariate selection, feature creation), understanding the goal of the inference The biggest challenge for an interdisciplinary pro- (e.g., causal versus descriptive or predictive), mod- gram in this domain is balancing building theoreti- els and algorithms (e.g., flavors of parametric ver- cal foundations with developing practical skills. We sus nonparametric, supervised versus unsupervised, emphasize both in our courses, augmenting more Bayesian versus frequentist), and presentation of traditional coursework with a stronger emphasis findings (e.g., visualization, written and oral trans- on programming, learning through simulation, and lation for different audiences). Ethical consider- project-based work in which students use real (messy) ations and the soft skills required to collaborate data to address scientific research questions. effectively with practitioners and other researchers Our students also develop skills through con- pervade all these aspects of the data pipeline. We sulting projects with NYU faculty and intern- view statistics and computer science as core to the ships. These activities allow our students to gain discipline, and contemporary data scientists are important experience working on collaborations encouraged to hone their skills in both fields with with closely aligned programs such as those in the overarching goal of understanding the world public health; education; and social, behavioral, and communicating that understanding to stake- and policy science. n holders honestly and transparently.

24 amstat news december 2019 columns

STATtr@k Host a Career Panel to Connect with Statistics, Data Analytics Professionals

career panel is an opportu- type, and community. We con- panelists so they can prepare Xiaorui (Jeremy) Zhu is a PhD candidate at the nity for students to receive tact alumni from different com- beforehand. Examples of ques- University of Cincinnati advice for getting a job and munities to represent the diver- tions we have asked the panel Lindner College of Abeing successful once in a job. sity of students in our chapter. include the following: Business majoring in Likewise, for those who are in Specifically, we form the panel business analytics. His industry, sharing experiences offers with a combination of domestic What are some of the most research interests include a chance to consider lessons and international professionals challenging/rewarding aspects high-dimensional of your job? statistics, machine learned on the job. who can answer corresponding learning, finance, Every year, the University of questions. We also invite profes- What is the most important relevant applications, Cincinnati ASA student chap- sionals in entry-level technical advice you would give from and creativity. He is the founder of an algorithm- ter—named BearStats since the and managerial positions. your experiences? mascot of our university is the Once we confirm the panel- driven company in China Bearcat—hosts a career panel of ists, one of the challenges we called AirIOne Tech How did you prepare during (www.AirIOne.science). professionals from industry in face is encouraging students to your bachelor’s/master’s for statistics and data science. attend. We market our event in the job search? Zhaohu (Jonathan) The first step we take when myriad ways. First, we create a Fan is a PhD student planning this event is to deter- flier with the names, job titles, What advice would you give majoring in business mine potential panelists and and companies of the panelists to students on the job search? analytics at the University of Cincinnati Lindner reach out to them. One of the and make sure to display “Free College of Business. His best ways to find potential panel- Food” in bold letters on all mate- Students can ask questions at research interests include ists is through faculty members. rials. We also ask professors in any time during the session. Most meta-analysis and We approach faculty members our department to promote the importantly, we leave ample time discrete data analysis. each year and ask them to recom- event during classes. Further, we for students to interact one-on- Driven by his strong mend speakers. Then, we either created a website that allows us one with the professionals after interest in statistical applications in business contact potential panelists or ask to inform potential participants the event. Also, when the panel and industry, Fan has faculty members to reach out on about the event through emails. is over, we collect feedback from been actively involved our behalf. We send an email and request students so we can improve in consulting projects Another approach for finding students RSVP with name, email future sessions. for health care and panelists is to contact previous address, and academic program. The panels have been sup- insurance companies. students we interacted with as We also encourage them to join ported by department faculty Brittany Green is a PhD teaching assistants or classmates. our club via a form on the web- and staff, who have provided candidate majoring We also ask members from the site. Finally, we send reminders to parking and helped book the in business analytics professional Cincinnati Chapter students before the event. conference rooms. Because the at the University of to consider participating. This We distribute the flier and panels provide a platform for Cincinnati Lindner is a large and connected group RSVP link by connecting with sharing experiences between stu- College of Business. Her research focuses of professionals who understand program directors and asking dents and professionals, they are on developing new the mission of student ASA chap- them to send an email to their popular. We feel lucky to have statistical and machine ters, so they are typically happy students. We have had students had the opportunity to connect learning methodologies to help. at all levels, backgrounds, and professionals with students at our for complex data with Through these avenues, we programs attend. university and develop a statistics dependence over time and applying cutting- maintain a list of professionals When it comes time to pre- and data science community in edge methods to n who can be contacted for current pare for the panel, we collect the Cincinnati area. business and health and future panel sessions. questions from students and applications. MORE ONLINE We think it is essential for add general questions that will Interested in starting a student our panelists to be representa- most benefit those attending. chapter? Visit www.amstat.org/ASA/ tive in terms of training, industry We email these questions to the Membership/Student-Chapters.aspx.

december 2019 amstat news 25 meetings Dalene Stangl Gabriela de Queiroz Dionne Price Elizabeth Thompson Randi Garcia

Success LOOKS LIKE WSDS 2019 Donna LaLonde, WSDS Executive Committee

WSDS 2019 Planning Committee Members it was reinforced that productive and fulfilling Dalene Stangl, Carnegie Mellon University research and career opportunities often do not follow straight line trajectories. Saki Kinney, RTI and Committee on Women in Statistics This year, we opened the conference with a ple- Stephanie Hicks, The Johns Hopkins University and nary panel. Wendy Martinez, director of the Bureau Committee on Women in Statistics of Labor Statistics Mathematical Research Center, served as moderator. She was joined by Randi Nicole Lazar, University of Georgia and Caucus for Women Garcia, assistant professor at Smith College; Leslie in Statistics McClure, chair and professor at Drexel University; Sastry Pantula, dean of the California State Shili Lin, The Ohio State University and Caucus for Women University, San Bernardino, College of Natural in Statistics Sciences; and Dalene Stangl, professor emerita at Amarjot Kaur, Merck and ASA Board of Directors Carnegie Mellon University. The panel considered questions related to creating and sustaining Christina Link, ASA Meetings Department a respectful and inclusive community. Hearing a variety of voices both from the panel and the audience, we considered many paths to this goal and igZag (https://zigzagpod.com) is one of my reinforced that there are opportunities for all of us

Photos by favorite podcasts. While catching up on to contribute. Olivia Brown/ recent episodes, I realized it was also the My “zigzag” theory was affirmed by the ple- ASA themeZ that emerged for me from the 2019 Women nary address given by Dionne Price, director of in Statistics and Data Science Conference. From the US Federal Drug Administration Division of the plenary presentations, concurrent sessions, and Biometrics IV. During her talk, titled “Women informal conversations throughout the conference, in Statistics and Data Science: Honor the Past,

26 amstat news december 2019 meetings

Marie Ozanne from the University of Iowa discusses her poster, “Bayesian Compartmental Model Yiqi Tang (Annie) from NC State University for an Infectious Disease with Multiple Infectious States.” enjoys one of the poster sessions.

Celebrate the Present, and Envision the Future,” Price shared examples from her career journey. She offered the advice “get outside your comfort zone.” Later that day, Elizabeth Thompson, professor emerita at the University of Washington, gave a plenary talk, titled “The True Success Is the Journey: A Career of Research and Education in Statistical Science,” in which she shared insights gained over her career. On Saturday, Gabriela de Queiroz, senior engineering and data science manager at IBM, presented the final plenary. Scarlett Bellamy from Drexel Many of us who attended WSDS 2017 were University gives her talk, “Health delighted when de Queiroz acknowledged the inspi- Disparities: Women in Statistics ration for her talk came from a talk given by Donna Making a Difference.” Brogan at that conference. During her talk, “I Wish I Could: Taking Charge of Your Future and Path,” de Queiroz shared her career journey reinforcing that success does not follow a linear path. Again this year, the formal program was complemented by participant-organized walks, lunches, and dinners. For example, around 20 folks gathered for lunch Friday to continue the discussion on diversity and inclusion. In addition to enjoying an excellent Indian food buffet, the group generated many ideas. Watch for announcements about new initiatives and Kayoung Park from Old Dominion University Monica Ahrens from The University opportunities to be involved. explains her speed session poster, “A of Iowa stops for a smile during the Nonparametric Approach to Evaluating the We also had a WSDS Data Challenge in which Opening Mixer and Poster Session 1. teams explored data to gain insights and contribute to Point of Treatment Time-Lag Effect.” the public awareness of how to spot disinformation. Back to my podcast listening, Episode 12 was titled, “We’re Rethinking What Success Looks Like.” Due in large part to the hard work of the planning committee and the amazing presenters and participants, success—for me—looks like WSDS 2019, and I’m looking forward to WSDS 2020. Please reach out to me at [email protected] if you have suggestions or ideas for next year. n Plenary panel members for “Creating and Sustaining Respectful and Inclusive Community” include (from left) Donna LaLonde, Wendy Martinez, Randi Garcia, Sastry Pantula, Dalene Stangl, and Leslie McClure. meetings Opportunities Abound for JSM 2020 Participation David Banks, 2020 JSM Program Chair

oral presentations are bundled in sets of 20, with a five-minute break in the middle. This is followed later by the e-poster phase, which lasts 45 minutes. We try hard to cluster speed session posters by topic to muster a large and look forward to seeing all the excellent ways to participate and focused audience. statisticians and data scien- let your teachers, students, and Here are some tips, based on tists in Philadelphia next year friends learn about your most atI the 2020 Joint Statistical experience with previous speed recent achievements. sessions: Meetings. The meeting theme, For years, JSM has been per- “Everyone Counts: Data for the fecting its culture of poster pre- • The oral component should Public Good,” underscores the sentations. The 2019 meetings lure people. Don’t try to positive and essential role of in Denver, with posters col- be too detailed. A touch of good data and good analysis in located with the EXPO, was mystery can be attractive. policymaking. Our profession’s outstanding. It created a busy Give the big picture view. leadership and participation are and enticing atmosphere and And a little humor helps. critical for our future, be it in drew larger crowds than I have MORE ONLINE • E-posters can include soft- business, government, or educa- seen at any previous JSM, so I To be part of the ware demonstrations, analy- JSM program, visit tion. Statisticians have a direct strongly encourage everyone to sis animations, videos, and ww2.amstat.org/ responsibility to help make the consider presenting in a speed interactive statistical graph- meetings/jsm/2020/ world better. or poster session. beontheprogram.cfm. ics or dashboards. Take The JSM 2020 Program Three avenues for contribut- advantage of the versatility Committee has finished with the ing to the JSM 2020 program of the medium. Don’t think hard task of selecting the invited include the following: sessions; we shall have nearly 200 in terms of a static poster. Be of these. There is something there Contributed Sessions modern and daring. for everyone, and we had more The most common JSM session • Note that you don’t need to highly qualified submissions than is a contributed session, which pay for poster printing, nor we could allocate. Some excel- typically consists of seven partici- do you have the hassle of lent proposals were not selected, pants, each speaking for 15 min- transporting a poster in the but that is a much better prob- utes. The brevity of these talks overhead compartment of an lem than the converse. Some of can create a high-energy experi- airplane, when you partici- the key themes include data science, which is even more excit- pate in an e-poster session. ence, big data, and ethical use of ing when all the talks address data. And the application areas features of the same application Poster Sessions are wonderfully broad, from area or methodology. And we still have the traditional astrostatistics to cybersecurity to poster sessions, which display genomics to forensic science to Speed Sessions printed posters attached to backing extreme weather events. Speed sessions are even more boards at the designated site. There are still opportunities intense. They allow one to give Elizabeth Mannshardt and to have stunningly good con- an electronic poster (e-poster) Emily Griffith got the North tributed sessions, as well as other presentation, which enables video Carolina Chapter to hold “recy- opportunities to share your work and other special effects. Speed cled poster” sessions at vari- (see ww2.amstat.org/meetings/ session presenters give a four- ous venues (mostly bars) in and jsm/2020/beontheprogram.cfm). minute oral advertisement for a around the Research Triangle. I Contributed sessions, speed ses- later poster presentation (think of mention this because everyone sions, and poster sessions are all it as a slow elevator pitch). These should have a poster ready to go;

28 amstat news december 2019 education

Call for Volunteers: Session Chairs Each JSM session needs UNDERGRADUATE • GRADUATE • PHD a chair. The job includes contacting speakers with session information before JSM and introducing speakers and managing NTERNSHIPS time during the session. The The following companies are looking for 2020 interns. From this list, you will session chair position is a see there is something for everyone—from positions at pharmaceutical compa- great way for new researchers nies to a summer spent studying at media organizations nationwide. If you are to build a professional interested in improving your programming techniques, making connections, network and get involved or honing your data analysis skills, apply for one of these opportunities. with JSM (and one can mention this service on one’s If your organization would like to include an internship opportunity on our CV). To volunteer, identify a website, complete the form at http://bit.ly/2CBAzyH. Interested students will section or society of interest send a letter of inquiry and résumé directly to the contact and location you list. and contact the program committee member (see ww2.amstat.org/meetings/ AbbVie, Inc. social networking events and jsm/2020/programcommittee. North Chicago, Illinois participation in community cfm for a list). volunteer projects while Number of Positions: Multiple providing competitive compensation. A transportation MORE ONLINE Type of Student: PhD candi- Find full descriptions you never know when it will be dates in statistics or biostatistics allowance will be provided for for these internships handy. And it is a useful exercise Deadline: January 31, 2020 eligible candidates. on STATtr@k at https:// to think about how best to frame stattrak.amstat. In this 10–12-week summer This position within the Center one’s work within the constraints for Design and Analysis (CfDA) org/2019/12/01/2020- program, interns will work internship-listings. of a poster board. on statistical research topics will work closely with a senior- related to the pharmaceutical level statistician or data scientist Abstract Submission on topics related to the design To contribute to the JSM 2020 industry such as deep learning, historical data borrow- and analysis of clinical trials program in any of these three and/or nonclinical research. ways, submit an abstract and title ing, missing data imputation, Only candidates who apply online (ww2.amstat.org/meet- and survival analysis. Interns will present project/assign- via http://careers.amgen.com ings/jsm/2020/submissions.cfm) ment results and learnings to will be considered. Search for by February 4, 2020. For orga- department management and Keyword 85845. nizational reasons, speakers are the broader team at the con- Contact: Natalie Mirzaian / required to register for JSM when clusion of the internship. they submit their abstracts. As part Christine Parada, of that submission, speakers must Apply at http://bit.ly/2O1IHO6 [email protected] also indicate the ASA section or (requisition #1906923). JSM partner society most closely Astellas Pharma, Inc associated with the topic of their Amgen Northbrook, Illinois presentation. The system will be Thousand Oaks, California reopened for abstract editing from Number of Positions: 2 April 1–18, 2020. Number of Positions: 3 Type of Student: PhD can- JSM 2020 is a great opportuni- Type of Student: Graduate, didate in statistics or related ty to grow your career, meet leaders pursuing a PhD in biostatistics, disciplines in the field, and find out where the statistics, mathematics Deadline: January 31, 2020 profession is going. JSM’s success Deadline: January 31, 2020 Full-time internships are avail- depends upon its participants. I able in the summer for 10–12 am open to any feedback through Amgen’s 10–12-week intern- weeks. Successful candidates will email at [email protected]. n ship program provides the opportunity for executive and work closely with a senior-level

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statistician on topics related to Biogen PhD or master’s in statistics or the design and analysis of clini- Cambridge, Massachusetts biostatistics. PhD students are cal trials and statistical research. required to have completed at Number of Positions: 4 Send CV, cover letter, and a letter least three years of graduate of recommendation. Type of Student: PhD work by May 2020. Master’s Deadline: January 15, 2020 students must have completed Contact: Biostat.Intern@ at least one year of graduate Astellas.com The biostatistics department work by May 2020. at Biogen will have internship positions available for Deadline: January 15, 2020 Battelle approximately 12 weeks in the The internships start in either Columbus, Ohio summer of 2020. The interns May or June and last 12 weeks. Number of Positions: 4 will work with one or multiple We will provide you with prac- Type of Student: Bachelor’s senior-level statisticians on tical experience and give you and master’s research projects closely related the opportunity to build your to clinical trials or nonclinical understanding of the pharma- Deadline: December 23, 2019 research. They will also have the ceutical industry and Eli Lilly Data Science Intern: http://bit. opportunity to be exposed to and Company. Successful can- ly/2NIneei the drug development process. didates will be assigned specific projects to work on under the Contact: Juli Garn, (614)-424- Contact: Wenting Wang, guidance of a Lilly statistician or 7537, [email protected] 225 Binney St., Cambridge, MA 02142; (617) 914-1155; statistical analyst (mentor). [email protected] PhD students should apply at Boehringer Ingelheim http://bit.ly/2CG36CU. Ridgefield, Connecticut Master’s students should apply Number of Positions: Up to 5 The D. E. Shaw Group New York at http://bit.ly/34VG5bw. Type of Student: Graduate Number of Positions: 1 Contact: Alexandria Pernell, student in fields related to Global Recruiting and Staffing, statistics, biostatistics, data Type of Student: All levels [email protected] science, computer science, Deadline: Rolling epidemiology, public health, or mathematics with good aca- The goal of our summer intern- The Emmes Company, LLC demic standing ship program is to expose Rockville, Maryland talented individuals to the Deadline: January 31, 2020 projects and environment Number of Positions: 5–8 As a biostatistics intern, you associated with full-time work Type of Student: MS or PhD in will work with a senior-level in quantitative analysis and biostatistics statistician on a statistical software development. Interns Deadline: March 31, 2020 research project related to the interact with various trading pharmaceutical industry and groups and gain valuable work A biostatistics intern will work clinical trials. Potential topics experience while demonstrat- closely with biostatisticians on may include survival analysis, ing their skills on a variety of biomedical research projects Bayesian methods, and dose- real-world projects. Working across a variety of disease finding, with applications to closely with quants, developers, areas. Interns meet with epide- oncology, immunology, cardi- and other senior staff as men- miologists, project coordina- ology, respiratory, or central tors, interns can expect an envi- tors, and biomedical investi- nervous system disorders. ronment conducive to learning. gators and contribute to the design and analysis of clinical Apply at http://bit.ly/32HPCRK. Contact: Patricia Wu, (212) 478- research projects. 0000, [email protected] Contact: Wansuk Choi (wan- For immediate consideration, suk.choi@boehringer-ingelheim. submit your résumé and apply com) and Jianan Hui, (jianan. Eli Lilly and Company directly through the com- hui@boehringer-ingelheim. Indianapolis, Indiana pany website at https://secure. com), Boehringer Ingelheim emmes.com/emmesweb. Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Number of Positions: Multiple Contact: Kate Salava, (301) Ridgebury Road, Ridgefield, CT Type of Student: Candidates 251-1161; (301) 576-7114 (fax); 06877. are enrolled in a graduate- [email protected] level curriculum leading to a

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Office of Biostatistics, disease, ophthalmology, and involving experimental neuroscience. The specific topics design and quantitative CDER, FDA may cover research problems analysis of data Silver Spring, Maryland from translational research to • Experience using technol- Number of Positions: Multiple late-stage clinical trials and post- ogy to work with data sets marketing evaluations. Type of Student: Graduate such as scripting, Python, or students in statistics or biosta- Apply online at https://go.gene. statistical software (R, SAS, tistics; completion of doctoral com/biostatsummerintern2020. or similar) MORE ONLINE Contact: gnebiostatsummer • Experience with statistical Find full descriptions prequalifying exams preferred for these internships [email protected] data analysis such as linear Deadline: March 13, 2020, with on STATtr@k at https:// rolling offers models, multivariate analy- stattrak.amstat. sis, stochastic models, and org/2019/12/01/2020- We anticipate having multiple GlaxoSmithKline sampling methods internship-listings. internship positions available Upper Providence, Pennsylvania Apply at Google.com/students for advanced PhD graduate Number of Positions: 2 students in statistics or biosta- January 6–24, 2020. tistics from May 26 through Type of Student: MSc, PhD August 28, 2020, to engage in Deadline: Mid-November for The Institute for research projects on topics rel- January hiring; mid-April for evant to Office of Biostatistics June hiring Defense Analyses (OB) scientific needs. Interns Alexandria, Virginia, and CMC Statistics, within the bio- Washington, DC will gain hands-on experience statistics division of GSK, is an with regulatory research proj- internal consulting group that Number of Positions: 22 ects under the guidance of an provides statistical consulting Type of Student: expert OB mentor, using actual support to nonclinical research Undergraduates, graduate data to address real problems and development. The co-op students, and PhDs in a stimulating, collaborative, student will work under the Deadline: January 4, 2020 and supportive environment. supervision of the statisticians Contact: Send CV and cover in CMC Statistics and have the The Institute for Defense letter to CDER-OTS-OB- opportunity to do the following: Analyses’ (IDA) Summer [email protected] with Associate Program provides • Advise on design, sample students with a unique oppor- APPLICATION ORISE 2020 in size, and other aspects of sta- the subject line. If you have a tunity to use their quantitative tistical relevance in the plan- and analytic skills to work on question, use QUESTION ORISE ning of studies 2020 as the subject. challenging real-world national • Provide statistical analysis, security issues. Positions are reporting, and interpretation available with a variety of foci. Genentech, Inc. of results of studies Projects from past years have South San Francisco, California • Provide statistical comput- included functional data analy- Number of Positions: 4–6 ing programs for use either sis, Bayesian approaches to reli- within CMC Statistics or by ability estimation, and statistics Type of Student: Graduate, in science policy. pursuing PhD in statistics, bio- other R&D staff statistics, or related field To apply, visit http://bit. To learn more and apply for ly/2NFOCtj. this opportunity, visit http://bit. Deadline: January 10, 2020. ly/2O8ysaC. Applications submitted by December 15, 2019, will receive Google Contact: Caroline O’Rourke, priority review. 4850 Mark Center Drive, Bay Area, California; New York, Alexandria, VA 22311; (703) The biostatistics summer New York; Los Angeles, California 845-2012; [email protected] interns will work for 10–12 Deadline: January 24, 2020 weeks under the supervision of experienced biostatisticians on Requirements: Janssen R&D, a Division theoretical or applied problems • Currently pursuing a PhD in of Johnson & Johnson with direct relevance to ongo- a quantitative discipline (sta- Spring House, Pennsylvania; ing clinical or nonclinical drug tistics, biostatistics, computer Titusville, New Jersey; Raritan, development in diverse thera- science, applied mathemat- New Jersey; La Jolla, California peutic areas such as oncol- ics, operations research, eco- ogy, immunology, infectious nomics) or another discipline december 2019 amstat news 31 education

Number of Positions: 8 Contact: Megan Osterberg, To apply, submit an unof- Type of Student: PhD candidate [email protected] ficial transcript, résumé, and cover letter at https://mayocl. Deadline: February 15, 2020 in/2CD5oTr. Search keyword Summer internships are avail- The Lubrizol Corporation “Biostats” (statistical intern- able for students working Wickliffe, Ohio ship) or “Intern-IS” (informatics toward a PhD in statistics, bio- Number of Positions: Multiple internship) and our current statistics, or a related discipline. Type of Student: Bachelor’s, openings will be available. Students will have the oppor- master’s, PhD Contact: Bud Harris, tunity to work with practicing Deadline: February 2, 2020 Department of Human MORE ONLINE statisticians and learn about Resources, Mayo Clinic, 200 Find full descriptions statistical applications specific Operating like a start-up com- First St. SW, Rochester, MN for these internships to clinical or nonclinical phar- pany, but with the backing on STATtr@k at https:// 55905; (480) 342-3493; (507) maceutical industry settings. of a large corporation, the 284-1445 (fax); Harris.Bud@ stattrak.amstat. Our teams benefit from the org/2019/12/01/2020- statistics and data analytics mayo.edu internship-listings. student’s academic training team is charged with creating and, in turn, contribute to the systems that enable highly professional development of effective product development Memorial Sloan the student and have a first- via virtual experimentation, Kettering Cancer Center hand opportunity to evaluate optimization, and knowledge New York, New York the student’s potential for discovery. In addition, the team future employment. provides data science consult- Number of Positions: Multiple Visit https://jobs.jnj.com/job for ing services to the Lubrizol Type of Student: a full description and to apply, technical community through- Undergraduate using the search terms “intern out the world. The project work Deadline: January 17, 2020, at statistics” or “SDS” (without the depends on the skills/interests 5 p.m. EST quote marks), which should of the intern and the current needs of the department. Students will participate in provide a listing that includes individual research projects the summer intern item. Apply for internship positions and receive exposure to meth- at https://lubrizol.jobs. ods in biostatistics, epidemi- John Deere Contact: Allison Rajakumar, ology, and health outcomes Moline, Ilinois 29400 Lakeland Blvd., Wickliffe, research from June 1 to August OH 44092; (440) 347-4679; 7, 2020. Through the pro- Number of Positions: 20 [email protected] gram, students will advance Type of Student: their quantitative skills and Undergraduate, graduate, or knowledge, as well as their PhD Mayo Clinic understanding of options for Rochester, Minnesota Deadline: February 1, 2020 graduate study and careers in Number of Positions: 15–18 these areas. Student research The data and analytics intern projects will be individualized Type of Student: program is for students who and address topics such as sur- Undergraduate, graduate, PhD have completed at least one vival analysis, prediction mod- year of their bachelor’s or mas- Deadline: January 15, 2020 eling, cancer epidemiology, ter’s program and are looking for Interns will work with stat- genetics and genomics, quality a 2–3-month summer internship. isticians, bioinformaticists, measurement, and disparities Our analytic internship will pro- and clinical investigators on in cancer care and outcomes. vide an opportunity for you to research projects in areas such apply your data science skills to To apply, visit www.mskcc.org/ as clinical trials, statistical qsure. business problems within a spe- genetics, and bioinformatics. Contact: 485 Lexington Ave., cific department and functional Experience with SAS and/or 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017; area. Opportunities exist across R preferred. Whether an indi- (646) 888-8156; bstQSURE@ varied functional areas such as vidual applicant will be offered mskcc.org financial services, information a position will depend on their technology, precision agricul- qualifications, our need and ture, customer and product sup- available funding, and the port, supply management, sales number of applicants. and marketing, order fulfillment, and engineering.

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Mental Health in the biomarker development, or research at an accredited pharmacogenomics. university and eligible to Country of Ukraine work in the USA Kiev, Ukraine (two weeks); Sioux To be considered for these Center, IA (eight weeks) positions, visit www.merck. • Prior applied experience com/careers to create a pro- with statistics or machine Number of Positions: 9 file and submit your résumé. learning Type of Student: Résumés will not be accepted • Experienced coder in at Undergraduate via email. least one language (e.g., R, Deadline: January 31, 2020 Python, Java, Scala, C++) Successful applicants will work National Cancer • Curious, self-motivated, and with a team of other under- Institute excited about solving open- graduate students on interdisci- Rockville, Maryland ended challenges at Netflix plinary research projects inves- Number of Positions: 2 • Great oral and written com- tigating a variety of research munication skills questions about this developing Type of Student: Flexible country, leading to publication Deadline: Three months • (Preferred) Comfortable in peer-reviewed journals and before you want to start writing SQL queries presentations at regional and This is an unpaid internship. To • (Preferred) Experience with national conferences. compensate, we try to make version control (e.g., Git) For application and additional the experience as educational Learn more about our work at information, visit www.dordt. and rewarding as possible. research.netflix.com. Netflix is a edu/events/ukraine-reu. There is no clerical work. unique place to work, and we Contact: Emily Mettler, Rather, the intern engages live by our values, so it’s worth Department of Mathematics in high-level methodological learning more about our cul- and Statistics, Dordt University, research in areas of substantial ture at jobs.netflix.com/culture. 498 4th Ave. NE, Sioux Center, importance in the design and Contact: dse-interns-info@ IA 51250; (712) 722-6264; emily. analysis of randomized clinical netflix.com [email protected] trials. Recently, we have focused mostly (but not exclusively) on the nexus among randomiza- Novartis Merck Research tion methods, allocation con- East Hanover, New Jersey; cealment, and selection bias. Cambridge, Massachusetts; Fort Laboratories Worth, Texas; Princeton, New Rahway, New Jersey; Kenilworth Please familiarize yourself with Jersey New Jersey; Upper Gwynedd, this area of research before Pennsylvania; West Point making contact. Number of Positions: Multiple Pennsylvania Contact: Vance Berger, Type of Student: Graduate, PhD Number of Positions: 15 [email protected] Deadline: January 31, 2020 Type of Student: Graduate Interns will work on statistics, Deadline: Rolling Netflix (Data Science and pharmacometrics, or data sci- The Biostatistics and Research Engineering) ence projects to design and Decision Sciences (BARDS) Los Gatos, California, and Los analyze clinical trials and/or Department has approximately Angeles, California perform relevant quantitative 15 internships in preclinical research under the guidance Number of Positions: of experienced quantitative biostatistics and clinical bio- Approximately 8 statistics for full-time students scientists. Various real-world pursuing an MS or PhD degree Type of Student: Post-qual problems will give interns in statistics or biostatistics. In PhD students preferred hands-on exposure to the these internships, you will work Deadline: Interviews will begin early and late phases of drug closely with an experienced in early January 2020 development across therapeutic areas such as oncol- pharmaceutical industry statisti- We are looking for a small num- cian to perform statistical analy- ogy, cardiology, immunology, ber of summer fellows with the neurology, ophthalmology, sis of data from and/or statistical following qualifications: research related to basic drug and respiratory care. Potential research, clinical pharmacology, • PhD student in a STEM topics include machine learn- drug and vaccine development, field engaged in ongoing ing, survival analyses, causal

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inference, Bayesian statistics, QST Consultations, LTD Contact: Xiaodong Luo, disease progression model- Allendale, Michigan Department of Biostatistics ing, and/or PK/PD modeling. and Programming, Sanofi Interns will also attend seminars Number of Positions: 2 + US Inc., 55 Corporate Drive, and other activities to enhance Type of Student: Master’s or Bridgewater, NJ 08807; their understanding of the drug PhD in statistics, biostatistics, [email protected] development process. There will or related field be opportunities for interns to Deadline: January 17, 2020 present their project results to SAS Institute, Inc. quantitative scientists and other The internship is a 12-week Cary, North Carolina key stakeholders. program starting May 25, 2020. Number of Positions: Multiple The program is primarily SAS Contact: Send your CV to based. The intern will be part of Type of Student: PhD or [email protected]. the statistical services depart- Master’s students ment and become familiar with Deadline: Starting now on a Pfizer Inc. the CDISC data structure, as rolling basis (before January La Jolla, California; Boulder, well as be involved in the pro- 31, 2020) Colorado; Groton, Connecticut; gramming of outputs for our As an intern in the statistics Collegeville, Pennsylvania; clients. These outputs, includ- area, you will contribute to Cambridge, Massachusetts; ing tables and listings, will be research, numerical validation New York, New York; Andover, part of a clinical study report and testing, and documenta- Massachusetts; Pearl River, New York our clients will submit to regu- tion. The program provides latory authorities. Send a CV Number of Positions: 15 an excellent opportunity to and cover letter to apply. Type of Student: Graduate stu- explore software development Contact: Rhonda Pardue, QST dent in statistics, biostatistics, or as a career choice. Consultations, LTD, 11275 related field Information and application Edgewater Drive, Allendale, MI Deadline: January 31, 2020 details can be found at http:// 49401; (616) 892-3730; bit.ly/2QfOcLN. The internship will consist of up [email protected] to 480 hours of work, commenc- Contact: Fang Chen, R4250 ing as early as April and ending SAS Campus Drive, Cary, NC as late as December. The intern’s Sanofi US, Inc. 27513; [email protected] project will be biopharmaceuti- Bridgewater, New Jersey; Cambridge, Massachusetts cally oriented, with one-on-one Shionogi, Inc. supervision by a senior staff Number of Positions: Multiple Florham Park, New Jersey statistician. The work will be a Type of Student: PhD candi- Number of Positions: 1 hands-on learning experience date in statistics or biostatistics focusing on current project Type of Student: Graduate or needs and will likely involve use Deadline: March 1, 2020 undergraduate of SAS, R, or other statistical soft- Successful candidates will work Deadline: February 15, 2020 ware. As part of the internship on design and analysis of early- program, the intern will prepare and late-phase clinical trials The intern will work closely a written report and brief pre- and statistical methodology with experienced statistics sentation summarizing the work research under the supervision project leaders and trial lead and forming a permanent record of senior-level statisticians. statisticians. The intent is to of the intern’s efforts. offer exposure across projects Candidates must have com- and therapeutic areas regard- To apply, send an application to pleted at least two years of ing the day-to-day job of an [email protected]. graduate coursework and industry statistician to dem- Contact: Xun Lin, Pfizer Inc., be working on a dissertation onstrate the opportunities in 10555 Science Center Drive, San toward a PhD in statistics or statistics in the pharmaceuti- Diego, CA 92121 biostatistics. Requirements cal industry. include effective oral and written communication skills and Contact: Bruce Binkowitz, 300 knowledge of SAS and/or R. Campus Drive, Florham Park, Python is a plus. NJ 07932; (973) 307 3487; [email protected] Email CV and (un)official graduate transcript to Xiaodong Luo.

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Social and Decision StataCorp, LLC will focus on providing partici- College Station, Texas pants with an intensive intro- Analytics Division, duction to biostatistical prin- Biocomplexity Number of Positions: 1–3 ciples and methodologies and Type of Student: PhD stu- the essential role of biostatis- Institute and Initiative, dent in statistics, biostatistics, tics in health sciences research, University of Virginia econometrics, or a closely including biomedical big data. Arlington, VA related field Participants will enjoy instruc- Number of Positions: 10+ Deadline: January 20, 2020 tion and lectures by recognized undergraduate interns and 5+ experts in the field; meet prac- Candidates must have com- graduate students ticing biostatisticians, epidemi- pleted at least three years of ologists, and statistical geneti- Type of Student: graduate work; have good sta- cists and genomicists; and gain Undergraduate students in any tistical, technical writing, and real-world experience working discipline and graduate stu- communication skills; and have with data from internationally dents (MS or PhD) with quanti- experience programming in recognized studies. tative/analytical skills enrolled Stata, C/C++, Java, or other sta- at any US university tistical and programming lan- Information about each pro- guages. Research experience in gram is available at www.nhlbi. MORE ONLINE Deadline: January 31, 2020 nih.gov/grants-and-training/ Find full descriptions Bayesian analysis, missing-data for these internships The Social and Decision methods, multilevel model- summer-institute-biostatistics. Analytics Division (SDAD) is on STATtr@k at https:// ing, nonparametric statistics, stattrak.amstat. seeking applications for grad- clinical trials, survival analysis, Takeda org/2019/12/01/2020- uate fellows and undergradu- causal inference, time-series internship-listings. ate interns for its Data Science analysis, or panel-data analysis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for Public Good (DSPG) pro- is desirable. Cambridge, MA gram. The DSPG program will Number of Positions: Multiple run for 11 weeks (May 26 – Apply at stata.com/internships. August 7) for graduate fellows StataCorp LLC is an affirmative Type of Student: PhD candi- and 10 weeks (June 1 – August action employer—minorities/ dates in biostatistics, statistics, 7) for undergraduate interns. females/veterans/disability. or related disciplines Fellows and interns will work Deadline: March 15, 2020 in teams collaborating with postdoctoral associates and Summer Institute for Interns will work closely with research faculty from SDAD Research Education in experienced industry statisti- and project stakeholders. cians on topics related to big Biostatistics (SIBS) data, artificial intelligence, To apply, submit an applica- Up to seven sites within the US innovative design and analysis tion online at https://uva.wd1. Number of Positions: Up to 25 of clinical trials, and/or pre- myworkdayjobs.com/UVAJobs at each site clinical research. and search for requisition number R0010930. Attach a current Type of Student: To apply, email your résumé CV/résumé, transcript, and Undergraduates majoring in and cover letter to biostatistics. cover letter with your relevant mathematics, statistics, biol- [email protected]. experience and interest in the ogy, or other science who have Contact: Takeda SQS Intern position. Please have three interest in quantitative meth- Coordinator, (617)374-7754 or confidential letters of reference ods. Those who already have a [email protected] sent to [email protected]. baccalaureate degree are eligible to apply, but priority will Contact: Gizem Korkmaz, be given to undergraduates at Thomas Jefferson Social and Decision Analytics the time of application. US citi- Division, Biocomplexity zenship or permanent resident University Division of Institute and Initiative – status is required. Biostatistics University of Virginia, 1100 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wilson Blvd., Office #2910, Deadline: Early March 2020 or Number of Positions: 3 Arlington, VA 22209; gkork- as specified by individual sites [email protected] The program will be offered at Type of Student: six to seven sites in the sum- Undergraduate (junior or mer of 2020. Although each senior preferred), graduate (MS program will be different, all or PhD)

december 2019 amstat news 35 education

Interns will work on challeng- An application and additional Deadline: February 15, 2020 ing assignments that will use information can be found at Jefferson’s division of biostatistics and develop their technical www.dordt.edu/statgen. in the department of pharma- and overall business skills. Contact: Nathan Tintle, Dordt cology and experimental thera- Apply for job posting 22429BR University, Department of peutics will sponsor up to three at www.travelers.com/careers. Mathematics and Statistics, students as summer interns, who Sioux Center, IA 51250; (712) will do the following: Contact: Frank Malzone, [email protected] 722-6264; nathan.tintle@ • Research statistical top- dordt.edu MORE ONLINE ics relevant to biomedical Find full descriptions research Two Sigma for these internships The University of North on STATtr@k at https:// • Apply statistical thinking to New York, New York stattrak.amstat. biomedical research prob- Type of Student: Bachelor’s, Carolina Center for org/2019/12/01/2020- lems master’s, and PhDs internship-listings. AIDS Research • Analyze real-world biomedi- Deadline: March 1, 2020 Chapel Hill, North Carolina cal data and interpret the Number of Positions: 1 results The internship program lasts 10 weeks in the summer and Type of Student: • Develop statistical program- takes place at our Soho-based, Undergraduates only (includ- ming skills in SAS, R, and New York City office. You will ing 2020 graduating seniors) other languages partner with an assigned men- Deadline: March 4, 2020 (roll- • Develop and practice tor and work on a single proj- ing admission) communication of statisti- ect during the course of your cal methods and results time here, which will culminate The Biostatistics Core at UNC through written and oral in a final presentation. Center for AIDS Research is presentations seeking a part‐time paid sum- Apply at http://bit.ly/2O3Dg1b. mer undergraduate intern • Receive guidance and Contact: M&T Campus (~20+ hours/week). The core mentoring regarding their Recruiting, m&tcampus@ helps design studies, analyze future studies and career twosigma.com data, and advance statisti- trajectory cal methods for HIV research Apply at https://jeffline. at UNC and internationally. jefferson.edu/education/ Undergraduate As a summer intern, you will programs/biostatistics_si. Research Program in have the opportunity to aid Contact: Gloria Elnitsky, (215) Statistical Genetics in statistical analysis and gain 955-9079; Gloria.Elnitsky@ Sioux Center, Iowa valuable experience in multi- disciplinary research. jefferson.edu Number of Positions: 6 Contact: Katie R. Mollan, Type of Student: Center for AIDS Research, The Travelers Undergraduate University of North Carolina at Hartford, Connecticut, and St. Deadline: January 31, 2020 Chapel Hill, 3126 McGavran- Paul, Minnesota Greenberg Hall, CB #7420; (919) Successful applicants will 966-8421 (email preferred); Number of Positions: 30 work with a team of other [email protected] n Type of Student: Graduate undergraduate students on (MS or PhD) in mathematics, cutting-edge problems in statistics, or data science statistical genetics leading to Deadline: February 1, 2020 publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at Travelers Advanced Analytics regional and national confer- Internship Program provides ences. Participants will receive qualified students with an a $4,000 stipend for the eight- excellent opportunity to gain week program, which runs from first-hand business experience, June 1 to July 24, 2020. Free receive valuable on-the-job apartment-style housing and training, and learn about the funds for travel to/from Sioux many advanced analytic and Center, Iowa, will be provided. data science positions available in the insurance industry.

36 amstat news december 2019 awards & deadlines

The award was established evidence of a lifetime devotion to Jeanne E. Griffith to honor Jeanne E. Griffith, statistics education. Mentoring Award who died in August 2001 after Each academic institution Nominations for the 2020 Jeanne working for more than 25 years is allowed one nomination per E. Griffith Mentoring Award will in the federal statistical system. year. In the event that more be accepted until March 22. The Throughout her career, and espe- than one nomination is received award recipient—a supervisor, cially in her latter senior manage- from a single institution in a ment positions at the National year, only the first will be con- technical director, team coor- MORE ONLINE dinator, or other statistical staff Center for Education Statistics sidered. Any college or institu- Deadlines and contact member—will be selected for and the National Science tion may nominate a potential information for all his or her efforts to support the Foundation, one of Griffith’s recipient, regardless of whether ASA national awards, work and develop the careers highest priorities was to mentor the institution has an active Mu special lectureships, and encourage younger staff at all Sigma Rho chapter. and COPSS awards of junior staff in the statistical can be found online community in federal, state, or levels to learn and grow, as well as Each nomination should at magazine.amstat. local government. Preference recognize and seize career oppor- include the following: org/blog/2019/11/01/ will be given to individuals with tunities as they came along. • Cover letter awards1920. a track record of mentoring gov- The nomination form and ernment statisticians. Examples guidelines are available from the • Nominee’s curriculum vitae of typical mentoring activities Government Statistics Section • Summary of the nominee’s include the following: website (see https://community. teaching and educational amstat.org/governmentstatisticssec- • Advising junior staff to help activities them create career oppor- tion/awards/nominations). • Draft of a citation briefly tunities, networking skills, The award committee will describing the nominee’s and contacts for growth and determine the award winner in accomplishments development April. The award will consist of a $1,000 honorarium, citation, • At least three, but no more • Counseling junior staff and and plaque, which will be pre- than six, letters supporting providing resources to help sented at a ceremony arranged by the nomination (at least develop their technical writ- the cosponsors. two of these letters should ing, analysis, presentation, The nomination pack- come from present or for- and organizational skills and age must be emailed to ASA mer students and at least knowledge Professional Development and one should come from a • Encouraging the growth and Sections and Chapters Manager colleague) career development of junior Rick Peterson at rick@amstat. If a nominee is not selected staff through attendance and org or mailed to the Jeanne for the award, the nomination oral presentations at meetings E. Griffith Mentoring Award will remain active for three years with higher-level officials, Committee c/o The American after the initial submission, staff of other agencies, profes- Statistical Association, 732 N. unless the institution chooses to sional associations, training Washington Street, Alexandria, put forward another nominee. courses, and conferences VA 22314-1943. Nominations should be Questions about the award • Motivating junior staff and sent to Lisa Kay at Lisa.Kay@ building self-confidence by can be addressed to Peterson or eku.edu by February 15, 2020. providing feedback, being a the chair of the award commit- Include all nomination material listener when needed, and tee, Bill Mockovak, at Mockovak. in a single PDF document. n creating a caring and sup- [email protected]. The recipient of the award portive environment will be notified on or before Mu Sigma Rho • Serving as a role model for March 15, 2020, and be pre- junior staff through profes- Mu Sigma Rho invites academic sented a plaque at JSM 2020 sional expertise; information institutions to nominate out- in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and insight; the balance of standing teaching faculty for the August 1–6, 2020. Questions collegial and personal roles; 2020 Mu Sigma Rho William D. regarding this award should be and the inclusion of every- Warde Statistics Education Award. emailed to Kay. n one regardless of rank, race, The nominee must have evidence ethnicity, gender identity, or of excellence in classroom teach- seniority ing in the statistics discipline and

december 2019 amstat news 37 people news

kid with asthma won’t visit the Donna Brogan children’s museum in Holyoke, On August 27, 2019, the Rollins School where so many kids go to play in of Public Health (RSPH) Department of the winter,” Reich said. “Those Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Emory are the things I can foresee, where University celebrated the 80th birthday of you’re making everyday choices Donna Jean Brogan, professor emerita of bio- with this information.” statistics since her Emory retirement in 2004. Read more about the UMass Gifts given by colleagues, friends, and family Amherst Center of Excellence at helped endow the annual Donna Jean Brogan www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/ Lecture in Biostatistics. cdc-designates-umass-amherst-flu. n Nancy Murray, a biostatistics doctoral candidate, emceed the celebration. Several people reviewed aspects of Brogan’s career, including her contributions to fostering career opportuni- PhD student Nancy Murray (left) and ties for women in statistics (e.g., spearheading the Donna Brogan prepare to cut Brogan’s birthday cake. formation of the Caucus for Women in Statistics in 1971). Speakers included John Hanfelt, interim chair of biostatistics and bioinformatics; Murray; Ying Guo, professor of biostatistics; Michael Kutner, professor of biostatistics; Jim Curran, dean of the RSPH; Kathryn Graves, senior associate dean of development and external relations of the RSPH; and Andrea Lane, biostatistics doctoral student. Extemporaneous remarks from previous colleagues and friends followed. Students and faculty coordinated a membership drive for the Caucus for Women in Statistics in honor of Brogan and the honorary gift of increased membership was presented at the celebration. Susan S. Ellenberg has Brogan expressed appreciation to her colleagues and friends at the RSPH and been appointed interim chair of thanked them for their role in her enjoyment of a long career in biostatistics. She the department of biostatistics, reminded all that she has retired from Emory (sort of), but not from the biostatistics epidemiology, and informat- discipline. She still teaches continuing education courses about design and analysis of ics (DBEI) at the University of complex sample surveys, including two at CDC University in November. And, yes, she Pennsylvania Perelman School of still participates in challenge-level square dancing! Medicine as of October 1. Ellenberg has been a DBEI faculty member since 2004 and holds Nicholas Reich, ASA the public health response to a a secondary appointment in the member and associate professor potential flu outbreak, helping to department of medical ethics and at the University of Massachusetts determine the timing for flu vac- health policy. Prior to her appoint- – Amherst, will receive up to $3 cine campaigns, potential school ment at the university, Ellenberg million in funding over the next closures and travel restrictions, and held several senior-level positions five years from the US Centers for the allocation of medical supplies in the federal government. Her Disease Control and Prevention and antiviral medications. research has focused on practi- (CDC) to operate a UMass- Reich is aiming to commu- cal problems and ethical issues in based CDC Influenza Forecasting nicate more accessible and user- designing, conducting, and analyz- Center of Excellence, one of two in friendly information to the public, ing data from clinical trials. the nation. perhaps via a smart phone app. Ellenberg is a fellow of the Reich’s flu forecasting col- “We want to convey the forecasts ASA, Society for Clinical Trials, laborative has produced some of in ways that people can under- and American Association for the world’s most accurate models stand, as it relates to their everyday the Advancement of Science. She in recent years and leads a team lives,” Reich said. “If we can com- is also an elected member of the that will work closely with the municate the data effectively, we International Statistical Institute CDC, identifying new methods might change behavior.” and the 2019 recipient of the and data sources to sharpen the An app could help people gauge COPSS F.N. David Award. accuracy and improve communi- their risk, based on their location Read more about Ellenberg at cation of seasonal and pandemic and individual characteristics. www.dbei.med.upenn.edu/bio/ flu forecasts. “Maybe they’ll tell grandma not susan-s-ellenberg-phd. n These new predictive tools to go to the shopping mall in the could more effectively target next two weeks, or maybe your

38 amstat news december 2019 University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Big Data Summer Institute Completes Fifth Year Matthew Zawistowski, University of Michigan Clinical Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Big Data Summer Institute Assistant Director he Big Data Summer proceeds, the morning lectures McShane, associate professor Institute (BDSI)—a turn toward advanced statisti- of marketing at Northwestern joint effort between the cal and machine learning topics. University’s Kellogg School of Tdepartments of biostatistics, sta- In the final weeks, students hear Management, in which he chal- MORE ONLINE tistics, and computer science at about big data applications from a lenged the BDSI students to Applications for the 2020 program are being the University of Michigan different perspective, that of non- reconsider the interpretation of accepted. Visit https:// (UM)—recently completed its statisticians. Clinicians, epide- p-values when assessing statis- sph.umich.edu/bdsi. fifth year, sending its 2019 miologists, and sociologists give tical significance. In previous cohort of 40 undergraduate stu- examples of how they use big years, Rachel Schutt, co-head dents into the brave new world data and provide insights into of the AI Lab in BlackRock and of biostatistics and data science. their collaborations with quanti- coauthor of Doing Data Science, BDSI was established in tative scientists. has given presentations. 2015 by the University of Each afternoon, students split Students learn more than just Michigan School of Public Health into smaller groups for a deep-dive statistics during their six-week Department of Biostatistics to into faculty-mentored research. stay in Ann Arbor. They form train the next generation of quan- Each group consists of 10–12 a close-knit network, bonded titative scientists by immersing BDSI students focusing on a spe- over late-night study sessions them in cutting-edge research cific research domain under the and social activities like canoeing projects at the interface of statistics, direction of 2–3 faculty mentors down the Huron River, a road computing, and health sciences. and 1–2 graduate students. The trip to the Detroit Museum of Led by founding director Bhramar 2019 cohort explored projects in Art and, of course, a guided tour Mukherjee, the program has been genomics, machine learning, and of the Big House. They listen to a success. Further, the cohorts data mining, while previous top- a special weekly seminar series of have reflected the need to increase ics included medical imaging and “Journey Lecture” by scientists diversity in data science; more electronic health records. The across their career spectrum as than half of BDSI participants are afternoon sessions allow students multi-ethnic cuisine is served for females and approximately 17 per- to immediately apply concepts lunch. The students also receive cent are from under-represented introduced during morning lec- resources for professional devel- minority groups. tures to real-world data and discuss opment and coaching to prepare From its inception, BDSI has results and next steps with their for graduate school. employed a successful model of faculty mentors. Many times, the This network of friendship, T-shaped learning combined projects are designed with an open- mentoring, and support persists with enthusiastic participation ended aspect to allow students to well beyond the summer. Thanks from faculty across campus. incorporate their individual curi- to social media, students remain Students meet for daily morn- osities and interests. close as they complete their ing lectures that provide a broad Students showcase their undergraduate educations and overview of key concepts and research at the concluding sympo- enter the next phases of their lives. applications in the world of big sium. Dressed in fine attire, they Many students even reunite in data. The first couple of weeks take center stage to deliver talks graduate school, as is the case for establish basic skills in statistics and to Michigan faculty and gradu- 17 BDSI alums currently enrolled computing to jumpstart work on ate students. This year’s sympo- in the department of biostatistics research projects. As the program sium included a keynote by Blake at the University of Michigan. n december 2019 amstat news 39 section • chapter • committee news

Government Statistics corner of the statistics profession. and working data scientists have The Government Statisti- We are more or less irrelevant in noted this as well (https://hack- cs Section (GSS), Survey the era of big data analytics. ernoon.com/the-ai-hierarchy-of- Research Methods Section But there is a different lens needs-18f111fcc007). In areas as (SRMS), and Social Statistics through which to view SPES, diverse as online experiments, Section (SSS) are sponsor- one that suggests we are well- subsampling, active learning, ing a student and postgraduate positioned to make a substantial causal inference, and algorithm paper competition. Winners mark on our field going forward. tuning, design thinking and ideas will present their papers at a In engineering and the physical are critical to data science. topic-contributed session dur- sciences, we observe increasing The traditional areas in SPES ing the 2020 Joint Statistical data abundance. While tradition- are not going away. There are Meetings (JSM) in Philadelphia, al approaches to data analysis, still increasingly complex and Pennsylvania. Competition win- experimental design, quality con- expensive processes and products ners will also be recognized dur- trol, and reliability are still criti- to study, monitor, and improve. ing the 2020 SRMS, GSS, and cal for many members of SPES, There are still difficult ques- SSS business meetings at JSM. a new graduate working as a tions in the physical sciences Up to five $1,000 awards will statistician in industry or among that require classical statistical be granted to help cover JSM engineers and physical scientists methods. But we shouldn’t limit 2020 expenses. Applications is more likely to build predic- ourselves to the methods that are due at 11:59 p.m. EST tive models as they would be to have always been used in our sec- December 21, 2019. design a small experiment. Given tion. Let’s welcome new types For more information, visit the changing landscape, the new of data and methodologies into the GSS website at https://commu- tools used in the analysis of big our statistical repertoire; let’s use nity.amstat.org/governmentstatistics- data are relevant and should be these new opportunities to make section/awards/competitions. n seized upon by our constituency. research contributions to areas in But there’s more. data science and machine learn- Physical and Engineering Not only are the tools of ana- ing and be alert for ways our Sciences lytics just as relevant in SPES training can be brought to bear Byran Smucker, 2019 SPES Outgoing Chair domains as in many others, the in big data domains. If the future In one telling of the trajectory traditional areas we have cultivat- of data science is bright, so is the of the Section on Physical and ed over the years have an impor- future of SPES. n tant role to play in advancing data Engineering Sciences, we are Survey Research Methods yesterday’s news. In this version, science. Allison Jones-Farmer industrial and engineering statis- (http://asq.org/statistics/2009/02/ At our business meeting, we cel- tics crested decades ago and SPES asq-statistics-division-newsletter- ebrated the SRMS Student Travel is just clinging to a small, niche winter-2009.html), in the 2018 Award winners, GSS/SRMS/SSS Youden Address, argued that Student Paper Award winners, industrial statisticians have train- SRMS Poster Award winners, North Carolina Chapter ing in three areas that many data and SRMS members who became The ASA’s North Carolina Chapter held a recycled scientists do not: (1) up-front ASA Fellows (Babette Brumback poster session and social at SAS Institute in Cary study design; (2) inferential of the University of Florida, on September 12. In attendance were more than 50 validity; and (3) understanding Craig Hill of RTI International, statistics professionals and students. the differences between confir- and Jonathan Schildcrout of Some attendees brought their old posters from matory, explanatory, and predic- Vanderbilt University). a previous conference to display again, while oth- tive modeling. Look for section news in the ers chose to practice presenting a new poster for an To take the first—which is SRMS Newsletter in July and upcoming meeting. Many just spent the evening near and dear to my heart—the January in preparation for JSM browsing their local fellow statisticians’ work. “old news” view sees the small 2020 in Philadelphia, to be held In total, there were 18 posters on display com- data of traditional experimental August 1–6. Also, watch for the peting for two best poster awards. The posters were design as increasingly irrelevant 2019 JSM Proceedings to appear judged by Sujit Ghosh from North Carolina State in a big data world. But look on our website next year at www. University and Sudipta Dasmohapatra from Duke a little closer and connections asasrms.org/Proceedings/index. University. The winners received a free ticket to the between data science and experi- html and make plans to attend NC ASA Fall Dinner and a certificate. mental design are important the SRMS business meeting This event allowed local statisticians a chance to and plentiful. Nathaniel Stevens in Philadelphia. gather, mingle, and learn about the statistical work pointed out that experimental For more information visit being done by fellow North Carolina statisticians. design expertise is sought after https://magazine.amstat.org/blog/ by many technology companies, category/membernews/amstatsec- tions/survey-research-methods. n 40 amstat news december 2019 professional opportunities

California n The Department of Statistics at the Professional Opportunity listings may not exceed 65 words, plus equal oppor- University of California, Riverside invites tunity information. The deadline for their receipt is the 20th of the month two applications for a tenure-track assistant teaching professor position (also termed months prior to when the ad is to be published (e.g., May 20 for the July issue). lecturer with Potential Security of Ads will be published in the next available issue following receipt. Employment, LPSOE), beginning July Listings are shown alphabetically by state, followed by international listings. 1, 2020 or even earlier. The details are Vacancy listings may include the institutional name and address or be identi- available at the website: https://aprecruit. fied by number, as desired. ucr.edu/apply/JPF01175. Evaluation of applications will continue until the posi- Professional Opportunities vacancies also will be published on the ASA’s web- tion is filled. EOE. site (www.amstat.org). Vacancy listings will appear on the website for the entire calendar month. Ads may not be placed for publication in the magazine only; n The USC Marshall School of all ads will be published both electronically and in print. Business, Data Sciences and Operations Department invites applications for These listings and additional information about the 65-word ads can be found a non-tenure track (teaching) posi- at ww2.amstat.org/ads. tion. Candidates should have a PhD in operations management, statistics, Employers are expected to acknowledge all responses resulting from publi- information systems or a related dis- cation of their ads. Personnel advertising is accepted with the understanding cipline, or be assured of its comple- that the advertiser does not discriminate among applicants on the basis of tion by fall 2020. Apply online https:// race, sex, religion, age, color, national origin, handicap, or sexual orientation. facultypositions.usc.edu/FAS/application/ Also, look for job ads on the ASA website at https://jobs.amstat.org/job- position?postingId=REQ20081265. EOE. seekers.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FACULTY POSITION TENURETRACK STARTING FALL 2020

e Department of Statistics invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position to begin July 1, 2020. A Ph.D. in statistics or a related eld is required. Candidates will be expected to sustain an active research and publication agenda and to teach in the departmental undergraduate and graduate programs. e eld of research is open to any area of statistics and probability.

e Department currently consists of 35 faculty members, 59 PhD students, and over 300 MA students. e Department has been expanding rapidly and, like the University itself, is an extraordinarily vibrant academic community. We are especially interested in candidates who through their research, teaching and/or service will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. For further information about the Department and our programs, please go to our webpage at: http://www.stat.columbia.edu

All applications must be submitted through Columbia’s online Recruitment of Academic Personnel System (RAPS) at: http://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/4156

e application must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement of teaching philosophy, research statement and the names of 3 references. References will be asked to upload letters of recommendation in RAPS.

Inquiries may be made to [email protected]

Review of applications begins on November 29, 2019, and will continue until the position is lled. Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/A rmative Action employer.

december 2019 amstat news 41 Georgia Mississippi n Tenure-track assistant professorship in n Assistant Professor requirements data science, Department of Statistics, include a doctoral degree in statistics, University of Georgia, starting August 1, commitment to effective graduate/under- 2020. Requires PhD in statistics or related graduate teaching and demonstrated FACULTY POSITION success in research. Apply online www. discipline by 8/3/2020. To apply, visit DEPARTMENT OF BIOSTATISTICS www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/124481. msujobs.msstate.edu (PARF 499442) and Applications received by 11/26/2019, are attach a curriculum vitae/résumé and ensured consideration, but review will cover letter addressed to Chair, Statistics The Department of Biostatistics at continue until the position is filled. EOE. Search Committee, Department of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Mathematics and Statistics, Mississippi (www.stjude.org/biostatistics) invites State, MS 39762. Submit transcripts, a applications for three faculty positions at the Indiana summary of research plans, a statement Assistant or Associate Member (Professor) level depending upon qualifications and n Director of Education (associate or full of teaching philosophy, and three letters experience. Candidates must have a PhD professor), Department of Biostatistics/ of recommendation. MSU is an equal in Biostatistics or Statistics and a record Richard Fairbanks School of Public opportunity employer, and all quali- of peer-reviewed publications showing Health, Indianapolis, IN. Duties: fied applicants will receive consideration evidence of (for Assistant Member, a Directing degree programs in Biostatistics for employment without regard to race, potential of) productive methodological (MS and PhD) and Health Data Science color, religion, ethnicity, sex (including research. The selected candidate will be (BS), statistical research, teaching, col- pregnancy and gender identity), national expected to have continued independent laborative research. PhD in biostatistics, origin, disability status, age, sexual ori- statistical research motivated by biomedical collaborations. statistics or related field, excellent com- entation, genetic information, protected munication skills required; Competitive veteran status, or any other characteristic We are looking for candidates with research salary/excellent benefits. Submit CV, protected by law. We always welcome interests in a wide variety of areas that include Survival Analysis, Longitudinal research/teaching statements, 3 references nominations and applications from Data Analysis, Multivariate Analysis, to: http://indiana.peopleadmin.com/post- women, members of any minority group, Clinical Trial Designs with emphasis on ings/8582. Indiana University is an EEO/ and others who share our passion for Early Phase Designs or Immunotherapy AA employer, M/F/D/V. building a diverse community that reflects Trials, and High Dimensional/Machine the diversity in our student population. Learning data analytic approaches with a focus towards precision medicine and/or Kansas medical surveillance. The candidates must New Jersey be committed to collaborative research with n Department of Mathematics, n The Department of Statistics of clinical investigators. University of Kansas invites applications Rutgers University seeks outstanding for a tenure-track, assistant professor applicants for tenure-track positions The Department consists of fourteen position in statistics to begin August 18, of assistant/associate professors for fall faculty positions, two post-doctoral fellows, twenty-six master’s level biostatisticians, 2020. Requirements include a PhD in 2020. Applicants must have a PhD mathematics, statistics or related fields eight computer scientists and several in statistics or related field by Sept. 1, administrative staff. Applicants must and outstanding publication record in 2020. Responsibilities include: teaching/ demonstrate excellent oral and written statistics. For complete announcement supervising undergraduate and graduate communications skills, have interest in and to apply online, go to https://employ- programs, conducting original research in biomedical collaborations and be proficient ment.ku.edu/academic/15639BR. At least broad areas of statistics; Bayesian and spa- in computing. Compensation and benefits four recommendation letters should be tial statistics preferred. Pursuit of external are very competitive and commensurate submitted to www.mathjobs.org/jobs/ research funding is expected. Apply online with experience. jobs/14660. KU is an EO/AAE. All quali- at http://jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/100289. fied applicants will receive consideration Send letter of interest, CV, and have three reference letters sent to: for employment without regard to race, [email protected] or color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), Dr. Deo Kumar Srivastava, Interim Chair, age, national origin, disability, genetic Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude information or protected Veteran status. Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678 Apply online: http://bit.ly/biostats-sj

EE/AAE

42 amstat news december 2019 Open-Rank Faculty position(s) at the Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University North Carolina n The Department of Statistics and The Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Operations Research at the University Public Health of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has an seeks applicants for multiple open-rank tenure-track, tenured, or opening for a tenure-track position in any non-tenure track faculty positions in Biostatistics. The Department of Biostatistics area of statistics at the assistant profes- at Columbia University is one of the premier biostatistics departments in the sor level starting July 1, 2020. Submit nation. The Department has more than 30 faculty (including 12 ASA Fellows) and an online application for vacancy ID 15 biostatistician research staff members. The Department boasts strong research FAC0002957 at http://unc.peopleadmin. profiles in clinical trial design, survival analysis, nonparametric and semi- com/postings/169804. University of North parametric statistics, precision medicine, causal inference, machine learning, Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal oppor- functional data analysis, imaging statistics, statistical genetics, statistical methods tunity and affirmative action employer. for mental health and many other fields. The Department has built strong collaborative connections within the Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH), a top-ranked school nationally, and in the world-class Columbia University Irving South Carolina Medical Center (CUIMC). The Department has thriving education programs n The Department of Epidemiology MSPHleading to M.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., and Dr.P.H. degrees. and Biostatistics and Big Data Health Science Center at the University of South is one of the largest recipients of sponsored research for all schools of public health in the nation. Its internationally recognized and highly Carolina invites applications for a tenure- interdisciplinary faculty is comprised of over 500 full-time faculty members, of track associate professor position in bio- CUIMCwhom almost 40 percent hold joint or interdisciplinary appointments with other statistics. Successful applicant will have departments of the university, as well as a large network of adjunct faculty. a successful track record of competitive includes four schools (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, College external funding and expertise in data sci- of Dental Medicine, School of Nursing, and Mailman School of Public Health) and ence (e.g. EHR, bioinformatic/genomic accounts for roughly half of the University's $4 billion annual budget. CUIMC or geospatial data). Application review provides world-class leadership in scientific research, health and medical will begin immediately and continue education, and patient care. CUIMC faculty have made profound breakthroughs until position filled. Submit application at historically ― among them, the first blood test for cancer, the first medical use of http://uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/68417. EOE. Responsthe laser, ibilities:and the first successful transfer of genes from one cell to another.

Successful candidates will maintain an active research Vermont program, both in biostatistical methodology and in collaborative research; teach n Tenure Track Assistant Professor in effectively, both to graduate students in biostatistics and to students from outside Biostatistics. Department of Mathematics Qualifications:the department; mentor graduate students; provide service to the department, the school, the university, and the profession. and Statistics, University of Vermont. Competitive candidates will hold a doctoral degree in Candidates are required to have a research biostatistics, statistics, or related quantitative field by the start date. Candidates focus on infectious diseases. The posi- with statistical and biostatistical expertise in the application of broad biomedical tion involves a secondary appointment sciences are welcome to apply. Areas of interest include (but not restricted to) in the UVM Larner College of Medicine computational statistics, machine learning, big data methods with applications to and being a junior investigator in UVM’s omics, neuroimaging, electronic health records or large-scale observational NIH-funded COBRE on translational studies, mHealth, statistical genetics/genomics, spatial statistics and precision global infectious disease research. All medicine. Consideration for tenure requires strong teaching, research and application materials must be submitted publication records in addition to the ability to secure external funding. Junior online at www.uvmjobs.com/p faculty candidates should demonstrate clear outstanding potential in research, ostings/38011. teaching, and the ability to secure independent funding; senior faculty candidates should be internationally recognized scholars who demonstrate a strong track of recordApplications: of excellence in research, teaching, and mentoring. Virginia n Department of Statistics, University of Submit a letter of interest curriculum vitae, statement of research and teaching philosophy, three recommendation letters, and graduate and Virginia, invites applications for two positions, associate/full professor and assistant undergraduateDeadline: transcripts for expected and recent doctoral graduates (unofficial transcriptsContact: acceptable). to: http://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/4391 professor. Applicants must present evi- Review of applications begins mid-December 2019. dence of outstanding accomplishments Columbia Contact University Katy Hardy is an ([email protected])Equal Opportunity/Affirmative with A anyction questions. Employer -- Race/Gender/Disability/Veteran

december 2019 amstat news 43 and promise in research and teaching. Candidates should be dedicated to UVa’s mission of excellence in research, teaching graduate/undergraduate courses, interdisciplinary collaboration, and service. Department is growing from increased student demand in statistics and computing. See www.statistics. as.virginia.edu. University of Virginia is an EO/AA Employer.

The GMU Department of Statistics invites applications for multiple tenure- track/tenured positions beginning Fall 2020. Senior candidates with outstanding research, demonstrated funding, and excellent teaching will be eligible for tenured associate or full professor positions. See https://jobs.gmu.edu/postings/47002 for the complete ad and apply with position number F465AZ at http://jobs.gmu. edu. The review of applications began December 2, 2019, and will continue until the positions are filled. n

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS Columbia University Lecturer in Discipline Position Starting Fall 2020

e Department of Statistics invites applications for a position at the rank of Lecturer in Discipline that begins July 1, 2020. It is a full-time appointment with multi-year renewals contingent on successful reviews. is position is to contribute to the Departmental educational mission at the undergraduate and masters level.

Lecturers in Discipline are o cers in the University who meet a programmatic need for instruction in specialized elds. e selected candidate will be expected to teach 3 courses per semester. A Ph.D. in Statistics or related eld and a commitment to high-quality teaching at both the undergraduate and MA levels in Statistics and/or Probability are required. Experience with online education is desirable but not required. Candidates will be expected to participate in the full gamut of statistics education including curriculum improvement, modifying and developing courses, and exploring new strategies for the teaching of statistics.

e department currently consists of 35 faculty members and 59 PhD students. e department has been expanding rapidly and, like the University itself, is an extraordinarily vibrant academic community. We are especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching and/or service, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. For further information about the department and our activities, centers, research areas, and curricular programs, please go to our web page at: http:// www.stat.columbia.edu.

All applications must be submitted through Columbia’s online Recruitment of Academic Personnel System (RAPS) and must include the following materials: cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement of teaching philosophy, research statement, evidence of teaching e ectiveness (teaching evaluations), a sample of course syllabus and the names of 3 references into the system. Applicants also should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be uploaded on their behalf. For more information and to apply, please go to: http://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/4191 Inquiries may be made to Dood Kalicharan at [email protected]

Review of applications begins on January 6, 2020 and will continue until the position is lled. Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/A rmative Action employer.

44 amstat news december 2019 e Department of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is seeking outstanding colleagues to join our tenure track faculty. Rank of appointment will be commensurate with experience. Both new PhDs and recent postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to apply. Candidates should have a PhD or equivalent in statistics, biostatistics, or a comparable eld.

e Hopkins Department of Biostatistics, founded in 1918, was the rst degree-granting department of statistical science in the US and has ranked among the world’s best throughout its history. Today, the Department comprises 23 tenure track faculty members, 20 research track faculty, 12 postdoctoral fellows and 76 students, two-thirds seeking PhDs. e Department has a proud history of collegiality and diversity. Margaret Merrell, the School’s rst female faculty member, was appointed in 1930 and became the School’s rst female professor. We highly value this tradition: Women and under-represented candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

e Department’s faculty, students and fellows strive to be in uential at the interface of the statistical and health sciences, with the ultimate goal to increase the health of all people. e Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing, the Johns Hopkins Health System, and the Johns Hopkins University are among the top worldwide and provide a research and educational environment in which faculty can achieve scienti c excellence. Current areas of expertise, like our people, are diverse, ranging from the real-time analysis of large, streaming data to philosophy and implementation of data science to statistical theory and methods. Our health applications include genomics, neuroimaging, clinical trials, population modeling, environmental health and many others. Learn more at https://www.jhsph.edu/ departments/biostatistics/.

TO APPLY Submit cover letter, CV, statements on research and educational interests and goals, two manuscripts or articles representing your most important work, and the identity of three references who you have asked to provide supporting letters to https://apply.interfolio.com/66969

e Johns Hopkins University is an a rmative action/equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting, supporting and fostering a diverse community of scholars. e Johns Hopkins University is a smoke-free environment and as such prohibits smoking in all facilities. e Johns Hopkins University is a drug-free workplace.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS Columbia University Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in Statistics Positions Starting Fall 2020

e Department of Statistics invites applications for Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships in Statistics. ese fellowships seek to bring exceptional scientists of outstanding potential to Columbia University. ese two-year fellowships, with no teaching obligations, are to begin between July and September 2020. e Fel- lows will hold the rank of postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Statistics. A competitive annual salary will be supplemented with generous funding for conference travel and research support. Applications in all areas of statistics and probability will be considered: the primary selection criterion will be the candidates’ exceptional promise to produce high quality and visible research. Candidates must have a PhD in statistics or related eld by the date of appointment. Fellows will be expected to pursue a vigorous research agenda and to participate actively in the intellectual life of the Department. e Department currently consists of 35 faculty members and 59 PhD students. e department has been expanding rapidly and, like the University itself, is an extraordinarily vibrant academic community. We are especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching and/or service, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. For further information about the department and our activities, centers, research areas, and curricular programs, please go to our web page at: http://www.stat.columbia.edu All applications must be submitted through Columbia’s online Recruitment of Academic Personnel System (RAPS) at: http://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/4198

e application must include the following:

• A cover letter that explains your motivation for applying for this position and indicates your choice of mentors from the statistics faculty. • A curriculum vitae (including a list of publications) • A brief research statement that summarizes current research interests, past accomplishments, and future research goals. It should contain a short proposal for the research activities you plan to conduct while at Columbia. • e names of 3 references—references will be asked to upload letters of recommendation in RAPS.

Review of applications begins on January 13, 2020, and will continue until the position is lled.

Inquiries may be made to [email protected].

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/A rmative Action employer —Race/Gender/Disability/Veteran.

december 2019 amstat news 45 Department of Statistics Tenure-Track Faculty Positions

Th e Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University seeks to hire multiple tenure-track faculty. All ranks will be considered. Th e start date is August 2020.

Applicants with interests and expertise in theoretical or methodological research in any area of statistics or biostatistics will be considered. Candidates with interests in data science, machine learning, and modern methods of data analysis more generally are encouraged to apply. Th e ability and desire to supervise graduate student research and to pursue excellence in teaching are essential.

To apply, please visit: https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/120549

Th e Department provides a dynamic environment for teaching, research and collaborations across disciplines. Inclusiveness and diversity are academic imperatives and are university goals: You will be expected to foster an environment that is supportive and welcoming of all groups. We are interested in candidates who have experience working with students from diverse backgrounds and have a demonstrated commitment to improving access to higher education for students from underrepresented groups.

Th e Department’s location in the Research Triangle provides rich opportunities for interactions with industry; other universities, including Duke Uni- versity and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and government agencies. Faculty enjoy collaborations with medical researchers at Duke, environmental scientists at the EPA research facility, pharmaceutical researchers at Glaxo-SmithKline, and software developers at SAS Institute, among many others. Th e Department is also a founding cooperator of the NSF-funded Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI), located nearby in Research Triangle Park.

All applicants must have a Ph.D. in Statistics or Biostatistics or a related fi eld by the time of employment. Review of applications will begin soon, and continue until the positions are fi lled. Questions about the search may be directed to the Search Committee Chair ([email protected]).

NC State University is an equal opportunity and affi rmative action employer. Women and members of other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. In addition, NC State University welcomes all persons without regard to sexual orientation or genetic information.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS Columbia University Assistant Professor (Limited-term) Positions starting Fall 2020 e Department of Statistics invites applications for four-year term positions at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2020. A PhD in statistics or a related eld is required, as is a commitment to high quality research and teaching in statistics and/or probability. Candidates will be expected to sustain an active research and publication agenda and to teach in the departmental undergraduate and graduate programs. Candidates with expertise in machine learning, big data, mathematical nance and probability theory are particularly encouraged to apply.

e department expects to support successful candidates with a generous research allowance. e expected teaching load is three semester-long courses per year.

e department currently consists of 35 faculty members and 59 PhD students. e department has been expanding rapidly and, like the Uni- versity itself, is an extraordinarily vibrant academic community. We are especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching and/or service, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. For further information about the department and our activities, centers, research areas, and curricular programs, please go to our web page at: http://www.stat.columbia.edu

All applications must be submitted through Columbia’s online Recruitment of Academic Personnel System (RAPS) at: http://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/4158

e application must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching statement, research statement and the names of 3 references. References will be asked to upload letters of recommendation in RAPS.

Inquiries may be made to Dood Kalicharan at [email protected]

Review of applications begins on December 2, 2019, and will continue until the position is lled. Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/A rmative Action employer – Race/Gender/Disability/Veteran.

46 amstat news december 2019 Possibilities and Probabilities AMSTATNEWS If working in an environment that values ADVERTISING DIRECTORY individuality and diversity and allows you to Listed below are our display advertisements innovate, engage in problem solving, and achieve only. If you are looking for job-placement ads, please see the professional opportunities sec- your professional goals appeals to you, then the tion. For more job listings or more information U.S. Census Bureau is the place for you. about advertising, please visit www.amstat.org.

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Apply at www.census.gov, click on Census Careers, Type of Position, Professional/Scientific/Technical, Math Statistician

The U.S. Census Bureau is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

december 2019 amstat news 47 SOCIAL CHATTER What’s one of the best habits a statistician can have?

community. Caleb King @ckingstats Eric J. Daza Check your analysis amstat.org Always, always, always plot the data assumptions, and report how well before you start analysis! Still working they’re met. If you can’t, report the www.facebook. com/AmstatNews on making this a habit. implications if not met. At the very least, acknowledge them explicitly. VlakePhoenix @VlakePhoenix @AmstatNews Clearly state the limitations of the infer- Erfan Pirbhai Live in the “moment.” ences made based on data. www.instagram Ben Power Question everything, espe- .com/AmstatNews Rob Santos @_Rob_Santos cially your own findings. But know when Cherish your significant other.... your questions have been sufficiently answered. Jim Fros @statisticsbyjim Skepticism! Grant Reinman Be an active, constant learner. Statistical sciences are changing Roland Matsouaka @matsouaka and growing rapidly. Always generate a statistical analysis plan that every stakeholder will agree Becky Elliott Make sure you know what on, before running any analysis. This the real question is before collecting the helps you avoid embarking [on] an end- data. less rabbit-hole pursuit of the elusive significant p-values from your clinical col- Mhd Hasan Almekdash Reading laborators. (critically).

Harry Smith @HarryASmith9002 Guoguo Zheng Understand and enjoy Comment your code. Your future self is the interactions between data and models. always one of your collaborators. Carolina Liskey Fit the model to the prob- Steve Ellison @slrellison_lgc lem, not the data to the model. Keep learning.

Won Chang calm down and plot the For next month, we’ll ask our followers—“If data you could interview one statistician or data scientist, who would it be?” Make sure to Yiannis Kontoyiannis be there *before* tag @AmstatNews in your response. the data is collected

48 amstat news december 2019 POWERFUL ANALYTICS. REAL RESULTS. Ed Hutchins, Cree Product Engineering Manager

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SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2017, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. 156201.0817US

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