Category: Profile
Elizabeth J. Kelly: “Statistics is for Adrenaline Junkies”
June 27, 2023
Elizabeth J. Kelly has always loved math, and as a professional statistician at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and a recreational rock climber, Elizabeth is an avid thrill-seeker who enjoys a challenge. “Math reminds me of climbing, including the need to focus, problem solve and persevere. I guess I ended up in statistics because I...
The Power of Biostatistics: Eric J. Daza Holds the Key to Evolving the Healthcare Industry
March 02, 2023
Many students don’t realize how much they love statistics until they take their first class. This was the case for Dr. Eric J. Daza, a health data scientist with over two decades of experience. Throughout his educational and professional experiences, Eric has learned that statistics can be a framework for life. Among his many accomplishments,...
Enhancing Lives: Dr. Kathy Ensor Uses Statistics to Improve Public Health Across Communities
January 12, 2023
Statisticians and data scientists truly have the power to change the world for the better. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, statisticians, like Dr. Kathy Ensor, conducted crucial data analysis to inform real-world public health decisions. And that’s just the beginning! In addition to her work teaching the next generation of statisticians at George R. Brown School...
Statistician Dionne Price Plays a Vital Role for the FDA
July 27, 2022
The work of statisticians can make a huge difference in the lives of others. For Dionne Price, a mathematical statistician for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), statistics can directly impact the public health and safety of individuals throughout the nation. As the Deputy Director of the Office of Biostatistics, Office of Translational Sciences,...
Jeremy Gu: Data Science from the Tech Industry to the World of Fashion
March 26, 2020
When you think of the biggest companies in the U.S. and the world that are built on data, what do you think of? Amazon? Uber? Stitch Fix? Data scientist Jeremy Gu has experience at all three, using data to advance their offerings and make strategic business decisions. After Jeremy graduated from the University of Minnesota,...
Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Data
March 15, 2020
The lady with the lamp was also the lady who conducted pioneering and brave work as a statistician during a time when women were a rare presence in such fields. Florence Nightingale, one of the most prominent statisticians in history, used her passion for statistics to save lives of soldiers during the Crimean war, and do...
Chen Teel: Statistics for Personalized Gaming at Electronic Arts
July 25, 2019
Chen Teel: Statistics for Personalized Gaming at Electronic Arts When we say that statistics is used even in the most unlikely places and across every industry — we really mean everywhere. Chen Teel is senior manager of data science at Electronic Arts, the video game company that created “Battlefield,” “The Sims,” “Need for Speed,” and...
Ming Li: Turning Big Data into Action at Amazon
May 30, 2019
Amazon continues to innovate and become more efficient in its customer service, packaging and overall business. And statisticians are helping to do it! Ming Li, a research scientist at Amazon, uses data and statistics to help the company answer questions and make important business decisions. We talked with Ming about his journey in statistics and...
Mike Baiocchi: Stats for Better World Health
April 25, 2019
For Mike Baiocchi, an assistant professor at Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University, statistics is an important part of improving health care. Mike studies causal inference and uses statistics to determine if certain humanitarian intervention efforts, like reducing rates of sexual abuse, are effective in communities. Much of his work is focused on improving the lives of...
Kelsey Warsinske: Why Statistics is the ‘Sexy Major’
April 04, 2019
Statisticians are passionate about what they do, and for Kelsey Warsinske, a data scientist at a Silicon Valley tech company, she’s always been encouraged to learn about statistics. Very early on, Kelsey was encouraged to of its applicability to many fields and companies, high pay and interesting day-to-day projects. We sat down with Kelsey to...