The National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS) named Mary Batcher, Ernst & Young, and Robert Rodriguez from SAS Institute to the Board of Trustees for three-year terms beginning July 1, 2013. Karen Kafadar, Indiana University and Fritz Scheuren, NORC at the University of Chicago, were also elected for a second three-year term beginning July 1, 2013. Tim Hesterberg, Google, will complete the term of long-time trustee Mary Ellen Bock, who resigned from the board. The Board of Trustees approved the slate at its 2012 annual meeting, which was held on November 2-3, 2012 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
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 our audit clients.
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. Rodriguez has been with SAS Institute since 1983, after spending six years as staff research scientist at General Motors. Rodriguez earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Case Western Reserve University, and his master’s degree and doctorate in statistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rodriguez is also president of the American Statistical Association for the calendar year 2012.
Tim Hesterberg has worked at Google in Seattle, WA, since 2008 as a Senior Ads Quality Statistician. Previously, he was Senior Research Scientist at Insightful Corp., Assistant Professor at Franklin and Marshall College, and Operations Research Analyst at Pacific Gas & Electric Co. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1980 from St. Olaf College in Mathematics. He attended the Universität Bonn in Germany in 1981, then received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in Statistics in 1988.
During its reception and dinner, the Board also recognized Alan Karr, director of NISS, his twenty-and-counting years at NISS.
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.
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