The Cyber Café messaging system used
during past meetings was made inoperable
by a database issue, making it hard to con-
tact other participants. This or some other
system (e.g., providing cell numbers, email
addresses, or hotel information as par-
ticipants prefer) is necessary, and I know
such a capability will be restored during
future JSMs. H
ighlighting the ASA
Presidential Address and
Awards ceremony in
President Tony Lachenbruch chose “com- Denver, Colorado, were the
munication” for the theme of this meeting, announcement of the Founders
and I want to mention that communication Award winners and the official induc-
includes talks, panels, and posters. While tion of 53 ASA Fellows. The
there were a great many excellent presenta- Founders Award is given for extend-
tions in Denver, there were also some that ed, outstanding service to the statis-
were not so good. Such is inevitable, but the tics profession through a variety of
negative effect can be lessened if learning leadership roles. As in prior years, the Linda Young David Scott
takes place. names of the winners remained a
University of Florida Rice University
Our discipline involves observation, closely held secret until the ceremony.
analysis, and recommendations for action. The 2008 Founders Award winners
I would like to see more of this discipline are Linda Young and David Scott.
applied to the JSM program. Similar to other Linda Young, University of Florida, for year by Roderick J. Little. The number of
conferences, we do not screen contributed extraordinary leadership of the ASA as vice Fellows named is limited to no more than
abstracts and accept just a few—nor should president and as chair of the Council of one-third of 1% of the active ASA mem-
we, as it is part of our culture to allow every- Sections, chair of the Section on Statistics ber total. Fifty-three ASA Fellows were
body to show something of his or her work. Education, and chair of the Section on inducted this year. “The ASA Fellows des-
In most cases, the work is good, and it is the Statistics and the Environment, as well as ignation honors the extraordinary mem-
delivery that needs improvement. leadership of many other statistical societies, bers of the statistics profession,” said Peter
I often hear it said that it is a great experi- including service as president of the Eastern Lachenbruch, ASA president. “The collec-
ence for a student or new researcher to give a North American Region of the International tive outstanding contributions of this year’s
JSM presentation. Yes, often it is, but this is Biometric Society (ENAR) and chair of Fellows from academia, government, and
not inherently true. Whenever we tout expe- the Committee of Presidents of Statistical industry have invigorated the statistics dis-
rience, we must ask what is actually learned. Societies (COPSS); for outstanding contri- cipline in education, research, administra-
It is not beneficial if only a minuscule audi- butions to leadership and scholarship in sta- tion, and service. Each year, the designation
ence is present or if inadequate feedback is tistical methods research—particularly for as ASA Fellow brings members from many
provided. Moreover (here it comes), there is agricultural, ecological, environmental, and specialties to the fore. It makes us all proud
just as much learning potential in present- public health studies—and in editorship of to recognize their accomplishments.” The
ing a poster—maybe even more due to the the Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and 53 new Fellows are listed below:
potential for more viewers and more inter- Environmental Statistics.
action (communication) between presenter David Scott, Rice University, for superb
Yacine Ait-Sahalia
and viewer. contributions and leadership in statistical
Princeton University
Along with our openness to accepting research, particularly in multivariate density
papers comes an obligation to improve estimation and visualization, and in editor- Gerald J. Beck
the quality of the program through good ship of the Journal of Computational and Cleveland Clinic
mentoring and using our own methods to Graphical Statistics; for service to ASA pub-
work upstream to improve incoming qual- lication projects, including electronic access
Betsy J. Becker
ity. Awards programs help some, but they to ASA journals; for outstanding leader-
Florida State University
focus on the top, not the bottom, where the ship on a wide variety of grants advancing
most feedback is needed. Audience evalu- statistical methodology with NSF, ONR,
Dulal K. Bhaumik
ation forms seem to be less common than NSA, USDA, USA, and NASA; for conse-
University of Illinois at Chicago
they used to be. Maybe a new approach quential effects of organizing and chairing
Chet Bowie
is needed. I hope to see future research conferences including the Joint Statistical
NORC at the University of Chicago
(and JSM sessions) that focus on systemic Meetings; for remarkable ability to direct
improvement of the JSM program. and mentor students; for chairing the
Subhabrata Chakraborti
Again, I thank the ASA staff, program Section on Statistical Graphics; and for
University of Alabama
committee, speakers, panelists, presenters, leadership in local chapter activities.
participants, and the Committee on Meetings. Each year, ASA Fellows are nominated Nilanjan Chatterjee
It has been a pleasure and an honor. n by the membership and selected by the National Cancer Institute
ASA Fellows Committee, chaired this National Institutes of Health
OCTOBER 2008 AMSTAT NEWS 27
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