Richard Cook - 2016/2017

Richard Cook - Statistics and Actuarial Science

Professor Richard Cook has been a faculty member in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science since 1995. He is one of the most influential biostatisticians in the Canadian and international medical community and has been awarded many distinctions and several prestigious awards for his methodological research work.

Over his career, Prof. Cook supervised 10 postdoctoral fellows, 19 doctoral and 29 master’s students. His students have successfully obtained academic positions and have established themselves as independent researchers or taken on leading scientist roles in the pharmaceutical industry or biomedical community. The quality and rigor of the research work by students under Prof. Cook’s supervision sets a very high standard. His PhD students have earned many major awards including: 4 winners of the annual Statistical Society of Canada’s Pierre-Robillard Award for the best PhD thesis; 6 winners of the annual Sprott Award for the best PhD thesis proposal in the department; 3 winners of the Distinguished Student Award from the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics and the International Biometrics Society Eastern North American Region; and one winner of the Canadian Journal of Statistics Prize for the best paper of the year.

Prof. Cook’s nomination for the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision received many enthusiastic letters of support from current and former students. These students passionately described their experiences under his supervision and all speak to his deep commitment to the success and well-being of his students as well as academic excellence.