Congratulations December 2007 Graduates!

01-10-2007

Clockwise from top left: Professor Bruce A. Craig with Dr. Shannon Knapp, Professor William S. Cleveland with Dr. Zhenqiang (James) Lu, Professor Rebecca W. Doerge with Dr. Riyan Cheng

The Department of Statistics extends congratulations to all of our 2007 graduates. On December 16, 2007, Purdue University and the Department of Statistics awarded degrees to the following people:

Ph.D. Graduates (Advisor) Dissertation Title

Mr. Riyan Cheng (Rebecca W. Doerge, Jun Xie) Statistical Methods for Mapping Multiple Complex Traits
Ms. Shannon Knapp (Bruce A. Craig) Incorporating Uncertainty into Non-Invasive DNA-based Mark-recapture Population Estimates
Mr. Zhenqiang (James) Lu (William S. Cleveland) Stenosis Surveillance for Hemodialysis Patients

M.S. Graduates

Ms. Ching-Yun (Veavi) Chang
Mr. Li Jin
Mr. Duncan Leaf
Mr. Jinguang (Tony) Li
Mr. Meng (Mike) Li
Ms. Yanfang Pang
Ms. Jingyi Wu

Graduate Certificates

Ms. Sisi Guo

Undergraduates in Statistics

Mr. Kyle Bauer
Ms. Lily Hudiara
Mr. Matthew Lange
Mr. Brian McCormick
Mr. Craig Renn
Mr. Neil Schneider
Mr. Andrew Steenman
Mr. Daniel Thompson
Ms. Maureen Webb
Mr. Brandon Wilson

Actuarial Science Majors

Mr. Kyle Bauer
Mr. Yancy Hollonquest
Ms. Lily Hudiara
Mr. Matthew Lange
Mr. Craig Renn
Mr. Neil Schneider
Mr. Andrew Steenman
Ms. Maureen Webb

For the calendar year 2007, the Department of Statistics graduated 8 Ph.D. students, 28 M.S. students, 2 Graduate Certificate students, 47 Undergraduate Statistics students and 34 Actuarial Science students.

We would like to highlight the outstanding achievements of Kyle Bauer. "I personally feel that Kyle is certainly one of the best actuarial students I have seen in my seven year tenure as Director. Not only are his academic abilities remarkable but he is also always polite, courteous and exudes enthusiasm for all he does," said Professor Richard Penney, Director of the Actuarial Science Program at Purdue.

Bauer earned a Bachelor of Science degree double majoring in Statistics and the Honors Interdisciplinary Math/Statistics Actuarial Science program, and minoring in Management. His academic success began as a high school student at Columbia City High School in Columbia City, IN. There he earned the Academic Honors diploma and was valedictorian of his graduating class. While in high school, he earned 23 college credit hours which allowed him to earn his Bachelor of Science degree at Purdue in three and a half years. He continued to be an excellent student at Purdue, earning a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA. Professor Frederi Viens, Associate Director of the Actuarial Science Program, had this to say about Bauer's academic abilities, "Kyle Bauer gave the strongest performance by far in the yearlong Senior-year sequence on life contingencies, loss models, and financial economics, in a class of 40 students, while he was only a Junior. His mathematical maturity, skill, genuine thirst for knowledge, and intellectual generosity, made him the best undergraduate student I have seen in years."

To become an "Actuary," an individual must become an Associate, and ultimately a Fellow, of one of the professional societies Society of Actuaries (SOA) or Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). This requires passing eight or nine actuarial exams. The Purdue Actuarial Science program provides preparation for the first five actuarial exams, FM, P, MFE, MLC, and C. "It is amazing that the curriculum provides preparation for all five of the SOA preliminary exams," says Bauer. To be competitive in the job market, seniors must pass the FM and P exams before interviewing during their senior year. Bauer not only passed the FM and P exams, but he also passed the MFE, MLC, and C exam.

In addition to his impressive academic skills, Bauer possesses strong leadership skills. He served as treasurer for the Purdue Science Student Council, and treasurer for the Purdue Actuary Club, and most recently served as president of the Purdue Actuary Club. One of the Actuary Club officers' responsibilities is to operate a recruiting program for companies and members of the club. Bauer feels that the "Purdue Actuary Club is the best in the nation," and notes that their recruiting program is a real advantage for Purdue actuarial students. In addition to organizing recruiting activities, Bauer initiated the Purdue Actuary Club High School Initiative (HSI). Under this initiative, the Actuary Club created a committee whose purpose was to inform high school students and teachers about the actuarial science profession. They accomplished this task in several ways: brochures from the SOA were sent to math teachers in all the high schools in surrounding counties, students gave talks in their hometown high schools, and local high school teachers were invited to participate in career discussions they sponsored that involved a panel of five practicing actuaries.

It's not surprising that Bauer has accumulated a long list of honors. Most notably he was one of nine outstanding seniors across US and Canada selected to win the prestigious John Culver Wooddy Scholarship. Other honors include selection as Outstanding Student in the College of Science, Dean's List, and recipient of the Ellen Sawyer Scholarship, the Arthur Rosenthal Scholarship, the Actuarial Science Scholarship, and the V.L. Anderson Scholarship.

After graduation, Bauer will be working as an Actuarial Analyst in the Corporate Valuations Department at Swiss Re. Specifically, he will be working in the Securitizations area where he will contribute to the maintenance of specialized bonds issued by Swiss Re. Bauer is familiar with Swiss Re having interned with them during the summers of 2006 and 2007.

"I feel I made a wise, if not lucky, choice when I decided to enroll [at Purdue] because the university has completely equipped me to succeed, beyond even what I expected," said Bauer. He and his wife, Alisha, a Purdue senior in Elementary Education, look forward to the next, no doubt successful, chapter in their life.

Congratulations to all of our graduates! We wish you the best and look forward to hearing from you!