The Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies held its “COPSS and Friends” meeting in August, with representatives from COPSS itself (Bhramar Mukherjee and Huixia Judy Wang), and from its founding societies: the American Statistical Association, ASA (Wendy Martinez, Ron Wasserstein), Eastern North American Region International Biometric Society, ENAR (Michael Daniels, Sarah Ratcliffe), IMS (Krzysztof Burdzy), Statistical Society of Canada/Société statistique du Canada, SSC (Wendy Lou, Shirley Mills, Bruce Smith, Grace Yi) and Western North American Region of The International Biometric Society, WNAR (Katerina Kechris, Ying Lu).
In addition there were representatives from the “Friends” societies: the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability (Claudia Klüppelberg), Caucus for Women in Statistics, CWS (Jessica Kohlschmidt), International Chinese Statistical Association, ICSA (Tony Jianguo Sun), International Indian Statistical Association, IISA (Sanjib Basu), International Society for Bayesian Analysis, ISBA (Igor Pruenster), International Statistical Institute, ISI (John Bailer), Korean International Statistical Society, KISS (Don Jang), National Institute of Statistical Sciences, NISS (James Rosenberger), Royal Statistical Society, RSS (Deborah Ashby), and the Statistical Society of Australia, SSA (Jessica Kasza).
At the meeting, each society outlined the highlights of their goals and objectives, and there were discussions about the various society initiatives on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; what Data Science research was taking place during the pandemic; virtual leadership of societies and conferences; and communication and coordination among societies generally. A proposal for the COPSS Leadership Academy was also on the agenda.
You can read the call for nominations for the five COPSS Awards (Presidents’ Award, Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship, Snedecor Award, David Award and Lectureship, and the new COPSS Leadership Academy Award) for 2021 below.
Find out more about COPSS at https://community.amstat.org/copss/home.
Nominations sought for 2021 COPSS Awards
Please visit https://community.amstat.org/copss/home for details of eligibility and nomination requirements for all these awards. Please send your nomination, preferably by email in PDF format, to the committee chair for each award. The deadline for all nominations is December 15, 2020, apart from the Leadership Academy Award, which is January 15, 2021.
NEW AWARD: COPSS Leadership Academy Award
The COPSS Leadership Academy Award was established in 2020 to recognize early-career statistical scientists who show evidence of and potential for leadership, and who will help shape and strengthen the field. The award is designed both to call attention to the efforts of these individuals and to provide a mechanism for them to share their vision for the field with each other and the statistical community.
Note updated eligibility criteria: The award is open to all junior members of the international statistical community. An eligible candidate will have received a terminal statistically-related degree up to 10 years prior to the award year. In special circumstances (e.g., illness, childbirth, dependent care), the eligibility period may be extended by up to two years, but in this case the nomination letter should outline the special circumstances. These determine only eligibility, and do not otherwise affect the selection process. Nominees must also be a member of at least one of the COPSS and Friends Societies [see above].
Nominations must be sent by January 15, 2021, preferably by email in PDF format, to: Catherine Calder, Chair, COPSS Leadership Academy Award Committee, and Professor, Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin: calder@austin.utexas.edu
The Presidents’ Award is presented annually to a young member of one of the participating societies of COPSS in recognition of outstanding contributions to the statistics profession. It is typically granted to an individual who either (i) has not yet reached his or her 41st birthday during the calendar year of the award or (ii) will be under age 46 throughout the award calendar year and will have received a terminal statistically-related degree no more than 12 years prior to that year (see COPSS website for more details on eligibility criteria).
Send nominations by December 15 to Paul Gustafson, Chair, COPSS Presidents’ Award Committee, and Professor, Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia: gustaf@stat.ubc.ca
Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship
The Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship is given yearly to an individual in recognition of outstanding contributions to statistical methods that have had significant impact on scientific investigations. This award was formerly known as the RA Fisher Lectureship award from 1963–2019. The 2021 award winner will deliver the lecture at the JSM in Seattle.
Send nominations by December 15 to Daniela Witten, Chair, COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award and Lectureship Committee, and Professor, Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington: dwitten@uw.edu
F.N. David Award and Lectureship
The F.N. David Award and Lectureship are presented biennially (odd-numbered years) to a female statistician who serves as a role model to other women by her contributions to the profession through excellence in research, the leadership of multidisciplinary collaborative groups, statistics education, or service to the professional societies. The 2021 award winner will deliver the F.N. David Lecture at the JSM in Seattle.
Send nominations by December 15 to Nancy M. Gordon, Chair, COPSS F.N. David Lecture and Award Committee, and Retired Associate Director for Innovation, US Census Bureau: nancymg@mac.com
The George W. Snedecor Award is presented biennially (odd-numbered years) to honor an individual who has been instrumental in the development of statistical theory in biometry and with a noteworthy publication in biometry within three years of the date of the award.
Send nominations by December 15 to Kerrie Mengersen, Chair, COPSS GW Snedecor Award Committee, and Professor of Statistics, Queensland University of Technology: k.mengersen@qut.edu.au