Category: Profile

How Gertrude Cox Blazed a Trail for Women in Statistics

The field of statistics attracts a larger share of women than most STEM fields, and it’s partly because of the legacy of women like Gertrude Cox, one of the most important statisticians in history. Born in 1900, Cox left a mark on the field through her tireless work, and her passion for bringing statistics education...

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Jeremy Singer-Vine has the Buzz on using Data in Journalism

We recently spoke with Jeremy Singer-Vine, a data editor at Buzzfeed News investigative unit. He explains how data has become more important to journalism in recent years, and provides advice to aspiring journalists on how to become data savvy. What came first for you as a student — your love of data or writing? Did...

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Quora Has Questions, Data Scientist Olivia Angiuli Has Answers

Olivia graduated in 2020 with a partial Ph.D in statistics from UC Berkley and now works for SingalFire. We spoke to Olivia when she was a data scientist at Quora, the popular answer-and-question website. She spoke with us about why she chose statistics as a major and data scientist as a career. Did you always...

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Statistician Katherine Thompson Describes Her Path to the U.S. Census Bureau

The American Statistical Association recently spoke with Katherine Thompson, the Methodology Director of Complex Survey Methods and Analysis Group in the Economic Statistical Methods Division of the U.S. Census Bureau about her position as a statistician. Below is an excerpt of the interview originally published in Amstat News.   What or who inspired you to be a...

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Hilary Parker Gets Crafty with Statistics in Her Not-So-Standard Job

We recently spoke with Hilary Parker, senior data analyst at Etsy and co-host of Not So Standard Deviations, a podcast about data science, with Roger Peng of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hilary studied mathematics and microbiology at Pomona College and holds a PhD in Biostatistics from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public...

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Data-Driven Government Means Greater Role for Statisticians, Says White House Chief Data Scientist

Statisticians have been the backbone of how the country has thought about data for years, and their role in an increasingly data-driven society will grow even more important, said White House Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil. Addressing one of the largest annual gatherings of statisticians, Dr. Patil told attendees of JSM2015 the field of statistics is changing, and that will...

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Globe Trotting, Presenting and Teaching: It’s All in a Day’s Work for Statistics Professor Kimberly Sellers

The American Statistical Association recently spoke with Georgetown University Professor Kimberly Sellers to learn more about what it’s like to be a statistics professor. Below is an excerpt of the interview originally published in Amstat News. What or who inspired you to be a statistics professor? I was always drawn to a life in academia;...

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Obama Campaign’s Data Chief on How Data Scientists Make a Difference

We recently spoke with Rayid Ghani, chief data scientist of President Obama’s 2012 election campaign and a senior fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He’s also head of the Schmidt Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship. Rayid explained what it’s like to be a data scientist and how they can...

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From English Major to Statistician: Meet Cassie DeWitt of the Detroit Fire Department

We recently spoke with statistician Cassie DeWitt about her job as a data analyst at the Detroit Fire Department, where she helps solve problems related to urban transitions and crises using quantitative and spatial analysis. She helps fight fires not with hoses or ladders, but tools from statistical science. Cassie’s story also is also interesting...

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Interview with Jill A. Dever, Statistics Program Director at RTI International

What or who inspired you to be a statistician? If I start at the very beginning, I have to blame it on those aggravating math flash cards. My parents worried about my slow progress in class, so every afternoon, instead of letting me watch “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” my father would sit with me at the...

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