Year: 2026

Each year, the Department of Statistics honors a select group of graduate students whose teaching and mentorship make a meaningful difference in the experiences of UW–Madison students. These TAs balance their own education and research with a profound commitment to effective instruction, and their impact is felt across introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses.  Meet this year’s winners:  Outstanding Performance as a …

Alan Agresti MS’70, PhD’72, distinguished professor emeritus of statistics at the University of Florida (UFL), has spent his career proving that data holds the key to some of the most compelling questions of our time, from the social sciences to the biomedical industry. In fact, he wrote a book on it. His seminal Categorical Data …

Over the course of his influential career, Hermann Habermann MS’70, PhD’75 has shaped how governments around the world understand their data, their people, and their economies. As former chief statistician of the United States and director of the United Nations Statistical Division, he helped build the statistical systems and standards that inform decision-making at the …

José Ramírez MS’85, PhD’89 has built a career helping people make sense of data, whether to improve semiconductor manufacturing or advance T-cell therapies that attack cancer. That applied impact, rooted in a collaborative philosophy he traces back to UW–Madison, makes him a fitting recipient of a 2026 CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award.  The groundwork for Ramírez’s career was laid in the Department of …