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Department of Statistics

From the Department Head, Gary Gadbury (2016)

Gary Gadbury

Greetings friends and colleagues and welcome to this year’s Departmental Newsletter. Substantial changes and events occurred in the department over the past year. Details of these will follow but include three new tenure-track faculty who joined us in August 2015, another to join us this August, two retirements, a new name for our undergraduate degrees, the 28th year of our annual conference, the awarding of over $25,000 in scholarships to students, a newly named K-State Alumni Fellow who is one of our own statistics alumni, and the annual alumni dinner at the JSMs.

Speaking of changes, if you have not visited the department recently you might be surprised to find new office cabinetry and other accessories. The new look is quite sleek and I credit our office manager, Bonnie Messmer (hired January 2015), for leading the effort. Most importantly the ‘apparently new’ cabinets were obtained at no cost to the department, thanks to Bonnie’s knack for identifying surplus materials on campus. We also have a plan in place to renovate a significant graduate student office space in the basement of Dickens. Preliminary plans have been drawn and sources of funding are being explored. One other personnel addition is a newly created position with the title “Statistical and Information Officer” (aka Statistical Consultant – we had to use an existing K-State title). This position has been filled by Nick Bloedow (MS, KSU, 2015) who has helped considerably to address the growing consulting load in our Consulting Lab.

As you peruse this issue of our newsletter please remember that you, our alumni and friends, are a key part of what we have done, are doing, and will do as a Department of Statistics. At the risk of sounding overly biased, I feel that we represent a most valuable resource for the campus community and the state of Kansas. Many of you may have read about the downward budget pressures currently facing education in the state. A strong and healthy statistics program is facilitated by the generosity of our donors. We are grateful for your support. If you would care to discuss ideas about ways to support our program please give me a call or, if you are in the area, drop by. We would love to see you and show you around.

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