August 25, 2014, Research Triangle Park, NC: Susan Ellenberg and Keith Soper have received the 2014 Distinguished Service Awards from the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). Alan Karr, Director of NISS, presented the awards on August 4, 2014 at the NISS/SAMSI (Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute) reception, held at the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston, Massachusetts.
The NISS Distinguished Service Awards were established by the Board of Trustees in 2005 to recognize individuals who have given extraordinary service that significantly advances NISS and its mission. Karr states, “These individuals didn’t have to do what they did, but they did it because they believe in NISS and its role in the statistics community.”
Ellenberg, who chaired the NISS Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2014, was given the award for helping lead NISS through “exciting and challenging times, always with common sense, wisdom and good humor,” noted Karr. Ellenberg is Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and formerly held leadership positions at the FDA and NIH.
Soper, Senior Director at Merck, was recognized for his long-term service to NISS as a two-term member of the Board of Trustees. He served on the executive committee and was also chair of the affiliates committee during 2013-14. Karr said, “You have helped NISS re-invigorate the Affiliates Program, and to move it in new and important directions.”
Ellenberg and Soper’s names will be added to a plaque that is displayed in the lobby of the NISS building in Research Triangle Park, which lists the names of all recipients, of which there are now twenty-five.
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, go to the website www.niss.org. You can also learn more about NISS by following our Twitter account, @NISSSAMSI, join the NISS group on LinkedIn and on Facebook.