Liu named Institute of Mathematical Statistics fellow
09-25-2025
Chuanhai Liu, associate head and professor of Statistics with the Purdue University College of Science, was recently named a 2025 fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). The designation of IMS Fellow has been a significant honor for 90 years. Each Fellow has demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability or has demonstrated leadership that has profoundly influenced the field.
Liu was recognized by IMS for highly original contributions to the foundation of statistical inference and computational statistics.
“I am honored and humbled to be named a Fellow of the IMS,” said Liu. “This recognition reflects the support and inspiration I have received from my students, collaborators, and colleagues over the years. I am grateful to be part of such a vibrant and dedicated statistical community.”
Liu joined Purdue University in 2005 to help establish the graduate program in computational statistics, working together with a group of newly hired faculty. Prior to that, he spent ten years at Bell Labs conducting research in applied statistics.
“That experience led me to reflect on and explore more fundamental and challenging questions in inferential foundations, with the goal of going beyond the two mainstream paradigms, Bayesian and Frequentist,” said Liu. “That work became my main focus during my early days at Purdue, as reflected by my co-authored the book Inferential Models: Reasoning with Uncertainty with Ryan Martin, a Purdue PhD graduate. I also continued research in computational statistics and co-authored Advanced Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods: Learning from Past Samples with Faming Liang and Raymond J. Carroll. In addition, I have maintained a strong interest in big data computing and statistical modeling, as I consider them to be fundamentally important in scholarship and highly challenging in teaching. Over my twenty years at Purdue, these areas have remained the core focus of my research, along with my commitments to teaching and service.”
IMS was formed on September 12,1935, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The IMS mission is that of fostering the development and dissemination of the theory and applications of statistics and probability.
About the Department of Statistics at Purdue University
Our mission is to advance the frontiers of statistical sciences and data science in both theory and applications; to provide learning environments that produce well-educated data scientists, statisticians, probabilists, and quantitatively literate people; and to join with others in bringing the strengths of the statistical sciences to address societal needs. The Department offers the degrees of Bachelor of Science, Graduate Certificate, Master of Science, Online Master of Applied Statistics, and Ph.D. in Statistics. Our programs prepare students for careers in both industry and academia and prepare them to be leaders in their fields. The Department of Statistics is part of the College of Science at Purdue University and is housed in the Mathematical Sciences Building in West Lafayette, Indiana. Learn more about the department at stat.purdue.edu.
Contributors
Chuanhai Liu, associate head and professor of Statistics
Written by Cheryl Pierce, Purdue University College of Science