Linda J. Young is Senior Fellow with the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). Until May 2025, she served as Chief Mathematical Statistician and Director of the Research and Development Division at the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. She has been a faculty member at Oklahoma State University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Florida. Dr. Young has more than 100 refereed publications in 76 different journals, constituting a mixture of research in statistical theory and applications, and three technical books, one of which is under revision. Her technical expertise and statistical research includes sampling, spatial statistics, mixed models and design of experiments. Her recent research has focused on linking disparate data sets and the subsequent analysis of these data. A major component of her work is collaborative with researchers in a broad range of disciplines.
Dr. Young has been the editor of the Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics. She has been active in statistics education at all levels, from K-12 through postdoctoral fellows, and has chaired the AP Statistics Test Development Committee. Dr. Young has served in a broad range of offices within the professional statistical societies, including President of the Eastern North American Region of the American Statistical Association, Vice-President of the American Statistical Association, Chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Section U (Statistics), and Chair of the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. Her awards include the American Association for Public Opinion Research Public Service Award, the Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the International Biometric Society, the National Institute of Statistical Sciences’ Service Award, and the American Statistical Association’s Founders’ Award. Dr. Young is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Statistical Association, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute.