Author: tjilk2

Honoring Paul Beebe’s decades of dedication

H. Paul Beebe, a Department of Statistics information technology (IT) professional, has retired after a decades-long career serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Beebe has been an integral part of the UW–Madison community for decades, in both the Department of Computer Sciences (CS) and the Department of Statistics. His journey began in 1982 as an undergraduate …

Alumni Q&A: Megan Hawley on the versatility of data science

The demand for data scientists—a role Harvard Business Review once famously dubbed “the sexiest job of the 21st century”—has never been higher. Today, seemingly every company, government, nonprofit, and university needs talented data scientists like Megan Hawley ‘23 to turn raw data into actionable insights. Hawley’s story illustrates the versatility of a data science degree …

Faculty focus: Jessi Cisewski-Kehe and the search for other worlds

Sixteen years ago, Assistant Professor Jessi Cisewski-Kehe worked as an actuary at Allstate Insurance Company. Today, she is a leading researcher in the field of astrostatistics, helping to reveal undiscovered planets orbiting distant stars. The common thread in her journey from actuary to assistant professor: a passion for leveraging statistical methods to solve real problems. …

Statistics spotlight: Jonquil Liao, PhD student

Jonquil Liao PhD x’26 never thought twice about coming to Madison from Hangzhou, China, where she began her undergraduate degree. With a long-held fascination for statistics, Liao was considering pursuing a graduate degree in the United States.  Then, in 2019, an opportunity presented itself for Liao to transfer to UW–Madison in her third year of …

Department of Statistics honors 142 winter graduates

On Friday, December 15, the Department of Statistics community celebrated nearly 150 winter graduates across numerous academic programs. As a result of their diligence and dedication, our newest alumni have earned the following degrees and certificates: BA/BS Statistics: 12 graduates BA/BS Data Science: 87 graduates Data Science Certificate: 28 graduates MS Statistics, Statistics & Data …

Statistics spotlight: Susan Glenn, PhD student

Susan Glenn PhDx’24 has always been fascinated by data and its hidden patterns. As an undergraduate studying mathematics and economics at the University of Washington, Glenn gradually began to realize that statistics was her favorite aspect of both majors. “Statistics is especially fun because you have this extra piece, which is randomness,” Glenn said. This …