2020 JSM Purdue Statistics Alumni and Friends Reception Was a Great Success
09-01-2020
On August 4, 2020, the Department of Statistics hosted its Annual JSM Purdue Statistics Alumni and Friends Reception. Unlike previous receptions, this reception was virtual, as was the 2020 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM).
Associate Professor Arman Sabbaghi hosted the reception on Zoom. A recording of the reception can be accessed at the link below. Dean Patrick Wolfe, Frederick L. Hovde Dean of Science and Miller Family Professor of Statistics and Computer Science, gave a welcome message at the start of the reception. Hao Zhang (Professor of Statistics and outgoing Department Head), George McCabe (Professor Emeritus of Statistics as of May 2020, and former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Science), and Tom Sellke (Professor of Statistics and outgoing Associate Head) gave statements on the Department. Afterwards, Jun Xie, Professor of Statistics and Director of Graduate Programs, delivered statements in appreciation of the services of Professors Zhang, McCabe, and Sellke.
Incoming members of the department then introduced themselves: Dennis K.J. Lin, Professor of Statistics and new Department Head as of July 15, as well as the 2020 Deming Lecturer, and Assistant Professors Jordan Awan, Hatef Monajemi, Mengyi Xu, and Bingxin Zhao. Bruce Craig, Professor of Statistics and the new Associate Head, led the introduction of the four new Assistant Professors.
We were very fortunate to have three former Department Heads participate in the reception: Hao Zhang; Rebecca W. Doerge (Glen de Vries Dean of Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon), and Mary Ellen Bock (Professor Emerita of Statistics and Department Head from 1995-2010).
The final speaker of the reception was David Arthur, a third-year PhD student and President-Elect of the Statistics Graduate Student Organization. He shared highlights of the past academic year.
At the conclusion of the virtual meeting, everyone was invited to join breakout rooms of their choice, to meet and visit with other guests. The list of breakout rooms follows below:
Common breakout room
Students from the 70s
Students from the 80s
Students from the 90s
Students from the 2000s
Students from the 2010s
Meet with Professor Dennis Lin
Meet with Professor George McCabe
The 2020 JSM Purdue Statistics Alumni and Friends Reception was truly a success in multiple ways. Over 100 people participated in the main reception, prominent statisticians affiliated with Purdue Statistics (such as Raymond Carroll, Distinguished Professor of Statistics, Nutrition and Toxicology at Texas A&M University, and David Moore, Shanti S. Gupta Distinguished Professor of Statistics, Emeritus, at Purdue) spoke with the attendees, and many alumni reconnected with faculty and their friends. For all of those alumni who wish to reconnect with the department, please feel free to reach out to Jesse Goldsmith at goldsmjm@purdue.edu from the Purdue Research Foundation, who is the new Senior Director of Development in the College of Science, or his colleague, Lydia Coppedge, Director of Development, at lcopped@purdue.edu.
For those who missed the reception, a replay is available here (the video may take a minute or two to load):
We look forward to hosting additional online events for Purdue Statistics Alumni and Friends in the future, and sincerely hope to see you all again!