PEOPLE NEWS
Samuel Kou
University statistics depart-
ment is a tremendous honor.”
Kou earned a bachelor’s
degree in computational
STATISTICIANS
mathematics from Peking
University in 1997 and both
his master’s degree (2000) and
IN THE NEWS
doctorate (2001) in statistics
from Stanford University,
where he also served as a
teaching assistant and instruc-
Read about your colleagues and friends
Kou
tor. He joined the Harvard in the news. Go to
www.amstat.org and
Samuel Kou, director of faculty in 2001 as an assistant
click on “Statisticians in the News.”
graduate studies in the professor of statistics, becom-
Department of Statistics ing full professor in 2008.
at Harvard University, He says he became enthralled
has been selected as the with statistics after taking
inaugural recipient of the an undergraduate course
Raymond J. Carroll Young on probability that made
Investigator Award at Texas him realize he wanted to use
A&M University. mathematics to solve real-
Kou was presented with world problems. Since then,
the award on March 14 as he says he has been fascinated
part of “Statistical Methods with doing research and liv-
for Complex Data,” a day- ing the life of a researcher.
long conference celebrating In addition to winning a
the 60th birthday of the National Science Foundation
Statistician Doubts Manitoba Jobless Figure
award’s namesake, Raymond CAREER Award in 2005
Kevin Rollason of the Winnipeg Free Press
J. Carroll, a distinguished and being elected a Fellow
interviews the province’s chief statistician, Wilf
professor of statistics, nutri- of the American Statistical
Falk, about the latest unemployment numbers.
tion, and toxicology at Texas Association in 2007, Kou
A&M and an international was chosen as a Medallion
leader in many areas of statis- Lecturer of the Institute of
Statistician Jan Fischer to Be New
tical research and education. Mathematical Statistics this
Czech Prime Minister
Kou is cited for his signifi- year. He also has helped orga-
The current Czech Statistical Office head, Jan
cant contributions to the area nize several conferences and
Fischer, was appointed by President Vaclav Klaus
of statistical methodology and symposiums on statistics.
to be the prime minister of the Czech Republic.
its applications. His method- Carroll, who had no input
ological research focuses on as to who the first recipient of
nonparametric methods and the award would be, is hon-
Professor Chris Tsokos New IFNA President
model selection. In terms of ored to be its namesake and
The International Federation of Nonlinear Analysis
applications, he has published extremely pleased Kou was
unanimously elected Chris P. Tsokos to be its
papers on stochastic influence chosen. “I hope it will turn
new president.
in single molecule biophys- into a big award in the pro-
ics. Kou says he is thrilled to fession,” he added. “Samuel
be selected as the inaugural Kou is a genius—one of
Nebraska Professor Talks Sex
recipient and considers it an the nicest and most unique
Appeal Science with Oprah
honor to be affiliated with young researchers I know.
Biostatistician Kendra Schmid, assistant professor of
the award’s namesake. I’m really pleased he won.”
biostatistics at the University of Nebraska Medical
“Professor Carroll has For more information
Center, was asked to appear on “The Oprah Winfre y
made so many groundbreak- about the conference or the Show” to discuss her research on facial attractiveness.
ing contributions in statis- Raymond J. Carroll Young
tics, always at the research Investigator Award, visit
frontier, leading one wave
www.stat.tamu.edu/
U.S. Still Struggling with Infant Mortality
after another,” Kou said. carroll-conference-2009 or
In The New York Times, Nicholas Bakalar interviews
“Having the opportunity contact Joyce M. Sutherland,
statistician Marian F. MacDorman from the U.S.
to associate my name with conference coordina- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about
Professor Carroll, a giant, and tor, at (979) 845-5528 or the major public health problem of infant mortality.
with the great Texas A&M
joyce@stat.tamu.edu.
MAY 2009 AMSTAT NEWS 43
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