Dong-Yun Kim and Jessica Kohlschmidt write:

The Caucus for Women in Statistics and Data Science (CWS) offers awards and scholarships to selected members each year: https://cwstat.org/awards/. Since 2016, CWS has been helping early-career professionals and students travel to participate in the annual JSM meetings. This year, we have a Lee Travel Award winner, IMS member Jaihee Choi at Rice University; and two Do Bui Travel Award winners: Kimberly Webb at Cornell University, and Zihan Zhang at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The CWS Societal Impact Award was founded in 2021 by Dr. Wendy Lou at University of Toronto. The award is given annually to a statistician or data scientist who has actively worked to advance social justice, or diversity, equity and inclusion through their research, teaching or service. This year’s Societal Impact Award winner is Dr. Tae Rim Lee, Professor Emerita at Korea National Open University, South Korea. She has held major leadership roles, including serving as president in several statistical and health information societies. She also served on various national and international committees, including the International Biometric Society and the International Federation of Classification Societies. Dr. Lee has been a strong advocate of e-learning, coordinating the e-ASEM Network from 2010 to 2020. She founded Women in Statistics in Korea (WISK) in 2019 and has encouraged junior female statisticians to focus more on their own research. Although retired from her faculty position, Dr. Lee remains active, currently serving as Vice President of the Korean Association of Senior Scientists and Engineers, promoting science and engineering through digital platforms. Her pioneering work continues to inspire and influence the younger generations in the fields of statistics and education.

The CWS Woodroofe Award was founded by Dr. Dong-Yun Kim at NHLBI/NIH in 2023. Through this award, Dr. Kim honors the towering intellectual legacy of Prof. Michael Woodroofe so that science and society continues to benefit from his impact. This award honors women who have made significant contributions to solve real-world problems by applying novel or existing theories during their mid-career. The year’s winners are [IMS member] Dr. Yao Xie at Georgia Tech and Dr. Yang Chen at the University of Michigan. Renowned for her innovative methods in statistical learning, Dr. Yao Xie has made significant strides in sequential analysis and change-point detection. Her work tackles real-world challenges by developing advanced algorithms for big data problems, including sparse changes in high-dimensional data and spatio-temporal modeling. Notably, her methods have been successfully applied to enhance crime data analysis and optimize police zone designs, demonstrating profound societal impact. Dr. Xie’s research combines rigorous statistical theory with practical applications, making her a stand-out in the field of statistics and data science. Dr. Yang Chen is recognized for her cutting-edge work in statistical learning, particularly within space science and astrophysics. Her innovative methodologies address the complexities of “big data” challenges, including developing advanced techniques for data-driven space weather predictions and high-resolution solar imaging. Her work not only improves our understanding of solar physics but also contributes to practical applications in managing vast data streams from space-borne telescopes. Dr. Chen’s methods are at the forefront of addressing critical data-analytic challenges, showcasing a blend of theoretical insight and impactful real-world applications.