Another successful Ag Stat Conference held
Once again the department hosted its annual Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture this past April in Manhattan – this was our 26th annual such conference. Under the leadership of faculty members Leigh Murray and Nora Bello, and staff person Jo Blackburn, more than 100 conferees assembled to give talks, posters and to hear keynoter/workshop leader Gustavo de los Campos from the University of Alabama-Birmingham speak. De los Campos’ workshop was on the Analysis & Prediction of Complex Traits Using High Dimensional Genomic Data and his keynote address to the conference was entitled “Statistical Methods for Genome-Enabled Prediction of Complex Traits.”
In addition to the technical part of the program, the (usual) Kansas Country Dance was held, and there was the opportunity for registrants to spend an evening at K-State’s Konza Prairie Research Center south of Manhattan. Many took advantage of these opportunities.
Planning is well underway for the 27th annual conference this coming spring. We hope you will plan to join us in late April. For information, program and fees see the departmental website.
Conference on Nonparametric Statistics in Spain
Dr. Jim Neill was an invited speaker at the 2nd Conference of the International Society of Nonparametric Statistics, held in Cadiz, Spain during June 12 -16, 2014. He presented work (joint with Prof. Forrest Miller, K-State Mathematics department) entitled “Multidimensional Lack of Fit Tests for Linear Regression Models Using Minimal Weighted Matchings.” Dr. Haiyan Wang also presented work and organized a session at the conference.
Loughin named incoming department chair at Simon Fraser
Tom Loughin, who served on the K-State faculty from 1993 through 2006 before moving to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby (a suburb of Vancouver), British Columbia, has been named the Chair of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Simon Fraser, starting September 1st of this year. In the ‘Alumni News’ column, you will also note that Tom and his student Chris Bilder have finished their book entitled “Analysis of Categorical Data with R” and anticipate its publication by CRC Press later this summer.
Tebbs to be named ASA Fellow
Josh Tebbs, who served on the K-State faculty as assistant professor from 2003 to 2005, and was a very popular faculty member while here, will be named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association at the upcoming Joint Statistical Meetings to be held in Boston in early August. Tebbs is currently a full professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of South Carolina. His research interests lie largely in categorical data analysis, statistical methods for pooled data (group testing), and order-restricted inference, with applications in epidemiology and public health. The department offers its heartiest congratulations to Josh.