American Statistical Association names alumnus Fellow for 2008

Alexandria, Va. – The American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society, today announced the election of 53 of its members as Fellows of the Association, including Gerald Beck ’66, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

The recipients received the honor in recognition of their outstanding professional contributions to and leadership in the field of statistical science. The Fellows will be presented at a ceremony on Tuesday, August 5, at the Association’s 168th annual Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver.

“The ASA Fellows designation honors the extraordinary members of the statistics profession,” said Peter A. Lachenbruch, ASA president. “The collective outstanding contributions of this year’s Fellows from academia, government and industry have invigorated the statistics discipline in education, research, administration and service. Each year, the designation as ASA Fellow brings members from many specialties to the fore. It makes us all proud to recognize their accomplishments.”

The 2008 Fellows come from 23 states, Canada, and Israel. Eight Fellows are from the National Capital area; five are from North Carolina; Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania each are home to three Fellows. A list of the 2008 Fellows by state follows this release.

The designation of Fellow has been a superlative honor in ASA for more than 90 years. According to the association by-laws, each year the Committee on Fellows can elect no more than one-third of one percent of the total ASA membership as Fellows. Individuals are nominated for the honor by fellow members and must have an established reputation and made outstanding contributions in some aspect of statistical work to be selected.

The Committee on Fellows evaluates candidates’ contributions to the advancements of statistics, giving due weight to publications, the positions held by the candidates in the organizations in which they are employed, activities within the Association, membership and attainments in other societies, and other professional activities. Selection committee members were Roderick J. Little (chair),  Demissie Alemayehu, Rick Chappell, Christy Chuang-Stein, Cynthia Z.F. Clark, Roxy L. Peck, Bonnie K. Ray, John H. Thompson, Preston J. Waite.

About the American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association (ASA), a scientific and educational society founded in Boston in 1839, is the second oldest continuously operating professional society in the United States. For more than 160 years, ASA has been providing its 18,000 members serving in academia, government, and industry and the public with up-to-date, useful information about statistics. The ASA has a proud tradition of service to statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics across a wealth of academic areas and applications. For additional information about the American Statistical Association, please visit the association’s web site at http://www.amstat.org or call 703.684.1221.