Author: tjilk2

Professor Yazhen Wang concludes transformative term as department chair, shifts focus to pioneering research

Professor Yazhen Wang has concluded the final academic year of a transformative three-year term as chair of the Department of Statistics. Under his leadership, the department dramatically increased the size of its student body and faculty, and it added popular new programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As Wang’s term as department chair …

Carmela Diosana earns 2024 L&S Distinguished Achievement Advising Award

The Department of Statistics is excited to announce that Carmela Diosana, our academic advising manager, has received the 2024 Distinguished Achievement Advising Award from the College of Letters & Science (L&S). Diosana has served as a staff member across several units at UW–Madison for more than two decades. During her time with the Department of …

Department of Statistics honors outstanding teaching assistants for 2023-2024

Each year, the Statistics Department’s Teaching Assistant (TA) Committee selects a group of outstanding TAs to recognize for their invaluable service to the department and the university. Awardees demonstrate dedication, professionalism, and a genuine passion for teaching. They are not only instructors; they are mentors, leaders, and example-setters—all while completing their own rigorous graduate studies. …

Statistics faculty members awarded American Family Insurance research funding

  Two researchers in the Department of Statistics are among nine campus investigators whose projects were awarded funding in the latest round of the American Family Funding Initiative, a unique sponsored research partnership between American Family Insurance and UW–Madison through the Data Science Institute. Through this initiative, Associate Professor Hyunseung Kang and Assistant Professor Keith …

Department of Statistics celebrates hundreds of spring 2024 graduates

On Wednesday, May 8, the Department of Statistics community gathered to celebrate a total of 647 new alumni, including 566 undergraduates and 81 graduate students, across the department’s array of academic programs. The department’s spring 2024 graduates have successfully completed the following programs: Data Science Major: 334 Statistics Major: 59 Data Science Certificate: 182 Statistics …

Faculty Q&A: Sameer Deshpande on the present and future of sports analytics

In recent decades, sports has become an increasingly popular domain for applying advanced statistical techniques. The world of sports analytics has exploded, and its takeoff was just beginning as Assistant Professor Sameer Deshpande was starting his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. What began as a class project assessing NBA player performance sparked Deshpande’s interest …

Kris Sankaran investigates how AI can help predict specific flood risks

Assistant Professor Kris Sankaran has contributed his expertise to the new book, AI for Good: Applications in Sustainability, Humanitarian Action, and Health, published by Microsoft this month. In the book, an esteemed group of artificial intelligence researchers investigates how AI can help tackle major problems related to climate change, humanitarian aid, and healthcare. One chapter, …

UW–Madison to name new Computer, Data & Information Sciences building for John and Tashia Morgridge

For the first time, a University of Wisconsin–Madison building will bear the name of John and Tashia Morgridge, alumni and visionary partners to UW–Madison, who have for decades made significant contributions to the university, beginning with a humble $10 gift in the 1960s. With the recommendation of university leaders and the approval of the Board …

Student spotlight: Zoe Weinstein explores the problem-solving power of data science

Zoe Weinstein x’25 grew up on the outskirts of Silicon Valley, but her fascination with data science and technology didn’t emerge until she arrived in Wisconsin. And her decision to come to Madison in the first place was based on a fortuitous visit to another Midwest city, during which she learned some good news. “I …

PhD student Xindi Lin marks career ‘milestone’ with award from American Statistical Association

Xindi Lin PhDx‘25 has earned the 2024 American Statistical Association (ASA) Student Paper Award for his work developing a novel method to analyze spatial point process data, or data detailing the precise locations of objects or events within a defined space. The paper is entitled “Efficient, cross-fitting estimation of semi-parametric, spatial point processes.” “It is …