News

Undergraduates Katie Li (Statistics), Jenny Song (Mathematics), and David Yin (Statistics and Computer Science) won first place in the ANÉA-ASNA Case Competition 2017 (ASNA = Actuarial Students National Association). They beat out 10 other teams, with their development of a method for estimating an insurer’s liability from future claims.

See a photo on the UBC Science Facebook page.

The Rick White Memorial Fund was established late last year, to honour Rick’s memory. Rick, who passed away September 2, 2016, was a long time member of the department, an accomplished statistical consultant and data scientist, and a wonderful mentor, leader, and colleague. 

You can learn more about the fund and about Rick on the department web page:

/rick-white-memorial-fund

and on

http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/rick-white/.

This year, we were honoured by the generosity of Anona Thorne and Takao Tanabe, who established the Anona Thorne and Takao Tanabe Graduate Entrance Scholarship. Anona Thorne (BA '91 Mathematics; MSc '93 Statistics) is a double alumna of UBC and went on to an interesting career using her statistics training at the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network at Saint Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Takao Tanabe is an internationally acclaimed Canadian painter.

The Department of Statistics is soliciting nominations for the recently established Department of Statistics Award in Data Science, an award to recognize the importance of developing and applying tools to answer important questions through the analysis of data. This $1000 award is offered to an undergraduate or graduate student who has demonstrated initiative and creativity in making outstanding contributions in the field of Data Science.

Faculty member Jenny Bryan has been honoured with her election to Ordinary Membership in the R Foundation, joining the ranks of those who, through their work, have contributed substantially to the R project. We all know and love R—it has been an essential part of the statistician’s toolbox for many years now. Its use has expanded far beyond the world of statisticians, leading IEEE to rank it as the fifth most popular programming language.

Congratulations, Jenny, for this honour.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently announced results of a study carried out by an international team of researchers led by Gavin Shaddick of the University of Bath and including Jim Zidek. Professor Shaddick is a long-time collaborator of Jim Zidek’s and a frequent visitor to the UBC Statistics Department. Some of the work on the study was done while Dr Zidek was the Global Chair at the Institute for Mathematical Innovation at the University of Bath. The research team has developed a model to study air quality around the world.

The first recipients of the Dr John and Barbara Petkau Scholarships are Shuxian Fan and Janet Lam.

It is with great sadness that we write that our colleague, Rick White, passed away some time during the night of September 1 – 2.

The BC Flag (at Main Mall and Agronomy Road) will be lowered on Thursday, September 15th, in memory of Rick. Members of the Department of Statistics will gather at the flag pole at 1:00pm to share our stories of Rick. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Professor Jiahua Chen has been honoured by the International Chinese Statistical Association, receiving the ICSA’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the theory of statistics, particularly in the design of experiments, sampling theory, empirical likelihood, finite mixture models, and statistical genetics; for his service to the statistical profession through editorial work and leadership in statistical societies; and for his role as mentor and advisor to many students and colleagues.
 
Congratulations, Jiahua!