Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science Program Honor Outstanding Alumnae: Anita Jain Singh and Anne Jackson
10-13-2014
Congratulations to Anita Singh (Ph.D. Statistics 1978) and Anne Jackson (B.S. Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Statistics, 1993), the 2014 Outstanding Alumnae in Statistics and Actuarial Science, respectively. The Outstanding Alumni Award honors alumni for their contributions and leadership within their profession. As part of the Department of Statistics celebration, we ask that our honoree give a lecture in their area of expertise. On Friday, October 10th, 2014, Dr. Anita Singh presented a talk entitled Methods to Address Statistical Issues of Environmental Applications in MSEE B012 from 10:30 – 11:30 AM, followed by a question/answer period.
2014 Statistics Outstanding Alumna
Anita Singh- Lockheed Martin Environmental Services
Anita Singh, born in New Delhi, India, attended the Delhi University where she completed her Master of Science in Mathematical Statistics in 1973, and for which she received the Gold Medal Award.
Dr. Singh joined the Ph.D. program in the Department of Statistics in 1974, and received her Ph.D. in 1978 under the supervision of Professor K.C.S. Pillai. She was an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology before joining Lockheed Martin Enviornmental Services (Information System & Global Service in 1991.
Since 1991, Anita has provided statistical guidance for environmental and chemometrics projects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). She has provided statistical expertise for over 150 Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and unexploded ordnance (UXO) FUDS (Formally Used Defense Sites) site projects requiring technical assistance to address data analytic, site characterization, exposure and risk assessment, and dose-response modeling needs. She has served on scientific advisory board of USEPA and technical advisory committee for UXO statistical projects of Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, a program jointly run by EPA, DOE, and DOD. She has developed two statistical software packages: Scout 2008, v.1.0 and ProUCL 5.0. The Scout software provides robust and resistant multivariate statistical methods; and the widely used software, ProUCL 5.0 provides statistical methods for left-censored data sets with multiple detection limits.
Anita has fond memories of the time spent at Purdue University during 1974-1977. During her lunch hour, she used to play bridge with faculty members and classmates. Also during her time at Purdue, she met her husband, Dr. Ashok Singh who received his Ph.D. from the Department of Statistics under the direction of Professor Shanti Gupta.
2014 Actuarial Science Outstanding Alumna
Anne Jackson – Milliman, Inc.
Anne Jackson earned her B.S. in interdisciplinary mathematics and statistics in 1993 (prior to Purdue offering an Actuarial Science degree). She has been employed by Milliman, Inc. since 1996; when she joined the Indianapolis health practice as an Actuary. Ms Jackson is currently a Principal and Consulting Actuary.
Throughout Anne's career, she has worked on a wide range of interesting projects, including health plan pricing work, support for Medicaid state agencies, and predictive analytics. The wide range of work and projects have been one of the most rewarding aspects of Ms. Jackson's career.
Upon arriving to Purdue University as a freshman, Anne enrolled in engineering. After two years of study she changed to Actuarial Sciences because she enjoyed the mix of math, economics, and business. Anne recalled that Purdue creates a lot of opportunity for students to explore courses of study and to find the best fit for their interests.
The Indianapolis health practice – and other Milliman offices – regularly recruit students from Purdue because of the strength of its program and its reputation. In fact, Milliman happily provides an Actuarial Science scholarship for undergraduates. Milliman’s proximity to West Lafayette allows many opportunities for interaction with the leadership of the Actuarial Science Program, as well as with the students throughout the year.