UW-Madison Department of Statistics

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UW-Madison Department of Statistics

The Statistics Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison

The Statistics Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison is home to 27 faculty, 11 teaching staff, over 100 graduate students and over 700 undergraduate majors in Statistics and Data Science.

08/20/2026

Congratulations to Professor Sunduz Keles, who has been named a Kellett Mid-Career Award recipient by UW–Madison!

The award, named for the late William R. Kellett, a former president of the WARF board of trustees, provides support and encouragement to faculty at a critical stage of their careers and comes with $75,000 to be spent over five years.

Prof. Keles integrates statistics, machine learning, and genomics to uncover mechanisms of gene regulation and cellular function. She has pioneered widely used methods for analyzing genomic and single-cell data, enabling discoveries in hematopoiesis, genome architecture, and disease biology.

More: https://ow.ly/R4Np50ZAYBy

07/16/2026

We're proud to bring our longstanding leadership in statistics and data science education and research to the newly launched College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence (CAI).

To understand why this moment matters, the vision for the future of the college, and the role universities play as technology reshapes society, read this Q&A with CAI Founding Dean Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau: https://ow.ly/RrBa50ZnRcL

07/06/2026

Teaching Assistants in our department make complex course material accessible and serve as academic mentors for undergraduates and fellow graduate students alike.

Each year, we recognize a select group of outstanding TAs who make a meaningful difference in students' educational experiences. For the 2025-2026 academic year, we are thrilled to honor the following TAs:

• Jingyun Jia → Outstanding Performance as a TA for Graduate Courses
• Beom Kwon → Outstanding Performance as a TA for Undergraduate Courses
• Jingyang Lyu → Honorable Mention: Outstanding Performance as a TA for Graduate Courses
• Paul Nguyen, Matthew Baca, Nabil Awan → Honorable Mention: Outstanding Performance as a TA for Undergraduate Courses

Congratulations to all of these deserving winners! We're grateful for their commitment to educating the next wave of statisticians and data scientists.

Read more about the winners: https://ow.ly/2YL350ZkJUG

05/26/2026

Associate Professor Jiwei Zhao has been named a 2026 Fellow of the American Statistical Association! Fewer than 1% of ASA members are named as Fellows each year, honoring their impactful contributions to the field.

Zhao's research focuses on statistical methods and machine learning techniques to analyze data with massive structures in biomedical studies. He holds a joint appointment in the departments of Statistics and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics.

Congratulations, Professor Zhao!

https://ow.ly/3tCh50Z4f0P

05/07/2026

Hermann Habermann MS’70, PhD’75, the former chief statistician of the United States whose work has shaped how nations understand their people and economies, is a 2026 CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award honoree.

From the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison to the highest levels of federal and international statistics, Habermann helped build systems that support informed decision‑making. "Federal statistics are the lifeblood of democracy — reliable, unbiased information for people to make decisions," he said.

Celebrate Hermann Habermann’s remarkable career and learn more about his global impact: https://ow.ly/mXoK50YQN6B

05/05/2026

Alan Agresti MS’70, PhD’72, a renowned statistician, influential author, and professor emeritus at the University of Florida, has been named a 2026 CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award recipient.

Agresti’s work in categorical data analysis reshaped an entire area of statistics, influencing disciplines from social science to medicine.

Reflecting on the reach of his field, he notes: "Statistics is useful in so many areas. No matter what your discipline or interest is, data can answer really interesting questions."

Learn more about Alan Agresti’s contributions and legacy: https://ow.ly/hp2y50YQN05

04/30/2026

José Ramírez MS’85, PhD’89 — collaborative statistician and industry leader whose work spans semiconductors, engineering, and cutting‑edge cancer therapies — is a deserving 2026 CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award recipient.

Rooted in the mentorship of Professor George Box, our department's founder, Ramírez built a career through effective partnership and applied impact. His philosophy captures that approach: Statisticians "need to be collaborators, equal and strategic partners to the people we work with," he said.

Read more about José Ramírez’s contributions across science and industry: https://ow.ly/C5o250YQMWY

04/16/2026

🧬During her PhD program over a decade ago, Claudia Solís-Lemus PhD'15 attended a lecture by Professor Bret Larget, showing how probability models could uncover new patterns in the evolution of life, using DNA as data.

"Lightning hit my brain," she said. That moment set her career on a course toward pushing the frontiers of statistical phylogenetics — the application of cutting-edge statistical and computing tools to reconstruct what biologists call the Tree of Life.

Today, Solís-Lemus leads a lab at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, where she and her students, many of them from CDIS programs, collaborate with scientists across campus and beyond. In these collaborations, they build richer statistical models and accessible coding packages that can enable breakthroughs with real-world public health implications.

"Our goal is to make these models usable at the scale biologists actually need," PhD student Nathan Kolbow, a member of the lab, said.

Read more about the Solís-Lemus lab: https://ow.ly/pKpJ50YKsLQ

04/14/2026

Happy Day of the Badger, Statistics community!

Today and tomorrow, alumni and friends of our department have a chance to give back (in any amount) to support hands-on learning and career-shaping opportunities for our students.

This year, with 50 gifts on Day of the Badger, we unlock a generous $5,000 matching gift from Hermann and Joan Habermann to empower student success.

You can give back between now and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15.

🔗Support the next generation of data-driven leaders: https://dayofthebadger.org/campaign/statistics/

Address

1205 University Avenue
Madison, WI
53706

Telephone

+16082622598

Website

http://www.stat.wisc.edu/

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