Emily and Paul Kidwell Graduate Student Excellence Fund

This impactful fund was established in 2020 to support PhD students in Statistics as they begin their careers and their lifelong pursuits of excellence. Those who are interested in careers in academia and government have awarding preference for expenses related to top-tier conference travel. The opportunities to network and present research that exist in these settings are critical for early career statisticians and academics. Additional unused revenue each year may be used to invite a prominent applied researcher to give a lecture for the benefit of the Department.

Emily and Paul Kidwell are a Boilermaker couple. They met at Purdue as Emily finished her undergraduate work in Psychology and Paul was beginning his graduate work in Statistics. Paul holds a 2000 Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering at Purdue and a 2009 PhD in Statistics at Purdue, as well as a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from DePaul University. Following Paul's graduation, the Kidwells moved to the Bay Area to begin his distinguished career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Starting as a Post-doc, Paul moved into a Staff Scientist role, and ended a tenure which was characterized by a number of publications in notable journals as the leader of the Statistics Group. Paul then joined Roofstock, a leader in the investment property market, as VP of Research and Development from 2015-2018. As a charter member, he built both their research and development and data science capabilities. Emily and Paul hope their gift will provide needed support for future statisticians going into academics and government, and serve to better Purdue Statistics in perpetuity.