Mary Batcher to Become Chair of NISS Board of Trustees

The National Institute of Statistical Sciences is pleased announce  that Mary Batcher of Ernst and Young will become chair of the NISS Board of Trustees on July 1, 2014. Robert Rodriguez of SAS Institute, Cary, NC, has been named as vice-chair. Also serving on the executive committee will be Christy Chuang-Stein (Pfizer), Rebecca Doerge (Purdue), Susan Ellenberg (U. of Pennsylvania), Roger Hoerl (Union College) and Fritz Scheuren (NORC at U. Chicago).

Ellenberg and Hoerl have served as chair and vice-chair of the Board since 2011. Alan Karr, director of NISS, said “It has been great for NISS to have Susan and Roger lead the Board for the past three years, and it will be equally great to have Mary and Bob guiding the Board in its efforts to help NISS move forward. Susan and Roger’s willingness to remain on the executive committee ensures continuity, and allows NISS to continue to benefit from their wisdom.”

Christy Chuang-Stein of Pfizer, Tim Hesterberg of Google and Tommy Wright of the U.S. Census Bureau have been elected to three-year terms on the NISS Board of Trustees, starting July 1, 2014. Chuang-Stein and Wright are joining the board for the first time.

Mary Batcher is Executive Director, Quantitative Economics and Statistics, at Ernst & Young LLP, in Washington, DC. She has responsibility for all aspects of statistical sampling used in tax filings, including the technical merits of firm samples, the review of IRS proposed samples, and the review of samples developed by other firms for its audit clients. Batcher joined the board in July 2013.

Robert Rodriguez is Senior Director of R&D for SAS Institute, Cary, NC. He has long been active with the NISS affiliates program, of which SAS is one of the original members.

Christy Chuang-Stein is Vice President, Head of  the Statistical Research and Consulting Center at Pfizer. She was a Founding Editor and serves on the Editorial Board of Pharmaceutical Statistics. Christy is a member of many collaborative working groups and has been promoting good statistical practice in the pharmaceutical industry for more than two decades.

Tommy Wright is chief of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Statistical Research and Methodology. He earned a master’s and Ph.D. degrees in statistics from The Ohio State University. He received a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Tennessee, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Knoxville College.

About NISS

The National Institute of Statistical Sciences was established in 1990 by the national statistics societies and the Research Triangle universities and organizations, with the mission to identify, catalyze and foster high-impact, cross-disciplinary and cross-sector research involving the statistical sciences. NISS is dedicated to strengthening and serving the national statistics community, most notably by catalyzing community members’ participation in applied research driven by challenges facing government and industry. NISS also provides career development opportunities for statisticians and scientists, especially those in the formative stages of their careers. In particular, NISS has appointed more that 70 postdoctoral fellows with graduate training in statistics, computer science, mathematics, environmental sciences, psychometrics and transportation. NISS is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

For more information about NISS see www.niss.org. You can also learn more by following our Twitter account, @NISSSAMSI, or by joining the NISS group on LinkedIn and on Facebook.

 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 by Jamie Nunnelly