The Carver Medal Committee of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics has selected Jean Opsomer to receive the 2019 Harry C. Carver Medal. The award is made in recognition of his outstanding contributions to IMS, especially through his steady service and guidance as two-term Treasurer of the IMS that put IMS finances on a healthy and stable path.

Jean Opsomer is a Vice President of Westat. Prior to this, he was a professor and chair of the Department of Statistics at Colorado State University, which he joined in 2007. Previously, Jean spent 12 years at Iowa State University as a faculty member in the Department of Statistics, affiliated with the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. He has a Master’s in Management Engineering from KU Leuven, Belgium, an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, and a PhD (1995) in Operations Research from Cornell University.

The author or coauthor of 65 peer-reviewed articles, Jean has introduced a number of influential novel statistical methodologies into survey estimation. His methodological and theoretical work is frequently motivated by questions that arise within federal statistical agencies with which he has long-term collaborations. His recent research has focused on the introduction of shape-constrained and nonparametric methods in survey estimation and on several interdisciplinary projects with survey components on a range of topics (higher education, public health, nutrition, employment, fisheries management, methane emissions, forest health, and agricultural erosion).

Jean is a Fellow of the IMS and the American Statistical Association, and an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he was named a Westat Senior Statistical Fellow and serves on their Statistical Fellows Committee, which provides consultation on important survey statistics issues and addresses recent advances in applied statistics.

The Carver Medal was created by the IMS in honor of Harry C. Carver, Founding Editor of the Annals of Mathematical Statistics and one of the founders of the IMS. The medal is for exceptional service specifically to the IMS. It will be presented to Jean Opsomer at the IMS Presidential Address and Awards session at JSM Denver (Monday, July 29). Also presented at that session are the IMS Fellows (see page 8), the New Researcher Travel Awards (page 5), the Hannan Travel Awards (page 16) and, of course, the Presidential Address (see page 10 for Xiao-Li Meng’s latest President’s Column). If you’re coming to JSM this year, please join us for the session, and the reception that follows it!