Greetings From The Statistics Department Chair
Welcome!
There are big changes to the Department of Statistics. In fall 2005, we recruited three new faculty members and another in 2006, bringing the total of assistant professors to eight. This invigorates the atmosphere of the department. We are buoyed by the wonderful, vibrant energy brought to us by our new colleagues. Each is unique in expertise and in personality. We are much richer for their presence.
Our faculty members continue to receive high acclaim. In 2005, Dongchu Sun and Chris Wikle became Fellows of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and Sun also became a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). In 2006, Tony Sun and Paul Speckman become Fellows of ASA and Chris Wikle received the University’s highest honor for research among mid-career professionals who are rising in their fields.
In 2006, the department underwent a five-year review. In our self-study, we identified spatial statistics as our signature program and documented our prominence in this area with applications to epidemiology, clinical medicine, forestry, wildlife and ecosystem modeling, El Niño and tornado prediction, ocean circulation modeling, population dynamics and travel patterns. We plan to enhance our leadership role in this exciting area of statistics.
We also documented core strength in biostatistics and identified this area for further development because of student demand and the opportunities for collaboration in a land-grant university with medical and veterinary schools. In addition, we have a focus in social science statistics, stemming from our newly established Social Science Statistics Center, directed by Lori Thombs. The center strengthens collaborations in psychology, economics and education as do recent faculty hires in statistics and quantitative psychology.
We hope you find what you are looking for on our website. If you have trouble or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact the department at (573) 882-6376 or dooleyj@missouri.edu.
Enjoy!
Nancy Flournoy
Professor and Chair
Department of Statistics
University of Missouri