Kansas State University

The past eventful year began with a transition to a new department head as Jim Neill’s term concluded in July 2013. Jim’s dedication and service as head are deeply appreciated and I will add my personal thanks for his valuable advice to me over the past year, despite him being on sabbatical during fall 2013. Dr. Weixing Song also took a fall sabbatical and was making his way up to Michigan State University while Dr. Wei-Wen Hsu was moving from there to Manhattan. Wei-Wen’s background was described in last year’s newsletter but it is worth noting that his is a new position, created to support the Master in Public Health (MPH) program on campus and was jointly funded by the colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and the Provost’s office. We anticipate more positions of this type in the future as high impact interdisciplinary initiatives requiring statistical expertise emerge across campus. Despite being in his first year, Wei-Wen participated in the final stages of an MPH accreditation process with the Council on Education for Public Health (I just learned while writing this statement that the accreditation was approved). Continue reading “From the Department Head’s Desk” →

If you are attending the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston, please join us for the annual K-State dinner.  We always get together and have a great time sharing memories and stories over a good meal.  Bring along family members or friends for the occasion. Continue reading “K-State Dinner at the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings, Boston” →

Wendy (Boberg) Archer (MS ’04) has a new baby.  Elizabeth Ann was born in February, and joins sisters Kayla (15) and Rosa (4) in the family.  Wendy and her Texas family have started the application process for a non-profit corporation to raise awareness of the need for organ and tissue donations and help offset pre- and post -transplant costs, as her brother-in-law is on a waiting list for both heart and kidney transplants (see Team Philip on Facebook if you are interested in this project). Continue reading “Alumni News (2014)” →

Supporters of the Statistics Department provide crucial sources of funds to allow department leaders to respond to emerging opportunities, as well as ongoing needs that are not fully funded through state sources. Gifts this past year (July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014) sustain excellence in this department. If you have any questions about this honor roll or you would like more information about other ways to support our department, please contact the Arts & Sciences Development Team at the KSU Foundation at 800-432-1578 or 785-532-7603.

Thank you to the following donors: Continue reading “2014 Honor Roll of Giving” →

New Faculty

Wei-Wen Hsu will join us from Michigan State University, where he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics under Dr. David Todem.  Prior to that, he earned his doctorate in 2011 at Michigan State under the direction of Dr. David Todem and Dr. Yuehua Cui.  His dissertation was titled “Tests of Homogeneity in Two-component Mixture Models.”  His current research interests include hypothesis testing, longitudinal and correlated data analysis, categorical data analysis, and hierarchical models.  Wei-Wen is originally from Taiwan.  He received his bachelor’s degree from Tamkang University and his master’s degree from National Taipei University.  Continue reading “Summer 2013 General Department News” →

Holly and Beth Fryer Scholarship in Statistics

Sijia Xiang (also known as Grace) has been a PhD student in the department for the last three years.  She is working with Dr. Weixin Yao on a dissertation regarding semiparametric mixture models.  She is from Hangzhou, China, a city known for its natural beauty.  In her spare time she enjoys cooking, swimming, and jogging. Continue reading “Statistics Department Scholarships” →

Greetings from the K-State Department of Statistics.  This past year has been yet another year of significant activities within the department.  A departmental draft strategic plan consistent with the university’s visionary goal of being recognized as one of the nation’s Top 50 Public Research Universities by the year 2025 was submitted to the College this past May.  Key activities include an increased focus on interdisciplinary research and high impact projects while not eschewing core statistical research, enhancing the undergraduate majors program, developing an improved program for quality graduate student recruitment, streamlining the current online graduate offerings and adding courses built around K-State 2025 directions, and developing a marketing plan for the department.   As the refined version becomes available, complete with expected short term, intermediate and long term outcomes, it will be posted on the department website. As always, faculty members have been engaged in many scholarly activities this past year, including participation at national and international research conferences, conducting interdisciplinary collaborations and supervising our large (55) group of graduate students.  During the 2012-2013 school year, twenty students earned MS degrees along with six PhD graduates.  In addition, with funding from the College, significant instructional technology upgrades are underway, including the placement of new high-end computers in the graduate student lab making the lab functional for students with today’s need for high performance statistical computing.    Continue reading “From the Department Head’s Desk” →

Wendy (Boberg) Archer (MS ’04) was promoted from Statistician III to Lead Data Analyst last fall at her company Buccaneer.  The company has changed owners twice in the last three years and Wendy finds that people are  still repositioning and adjusting to new policies.  Family life with three- and thirteen-year-old daughters is always interesting to her.

Duane Brown (PhD ’99) and wife Yihfen Chen (PhD ’99) continue to rack up awards.  Yihfen won another Teacher of the Year award at Cerro Coso Community College, where she teaches statistics and mathematics courses, although this award was won for her work with the college’s Special Services Program.  Duane works at the China Lake Naval Weapons Station just outside of their hometown of Ridgecrest, CA and has been announced as this year’s winner of the Michelson Laboratory Award.  The award seeks to recognize individuals for technical excellence based on outstanding performance of individual duties.  Only civilian employees from the NAVAIR Weapons Division are eligible. Recipients are selected by senior management from a list of nominated candidates. Continue reading “Alumni News” →