The Department of Statistics at the University of Waterloo was founded in 1967, as one of the five academic units in the then newly founded Faculty of Mathematics, and one of the first statistics departments in Canada. In 1982, Actuarial Science was added, and the name has become “Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science (SAS)” ever since.
The Department has enjoyed a world-wide reputation for its excellence in research and educational programs in statistics, biostatistics, actuarial science, and quantitative finance. A large part of the reputation is due to the achievements of SAS alumni who have built successful careers and made significant contributions to their professions. The “Statistics and Actuarial Science Alumni Wall of Fame” recognizes outstanding SAS alumni for their achievements.
Jack Kalbfleisch
(MMath 1967, PhD 1969, Statistics)
Professor of Biostatistics, University of Michigan
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (1994)
President, Statistical Society of Canada (2000 – 2001)
Ross Prentice
(BSc 1967, Mathematics)
Professor of Biostatistics, University of Washington
COPSS Presidents’ Award (1986) and Distinguished Achievement Award (2008)
AACR Epidemiology and Prevention Award (2005) and Team Science Award (2016)
Elected Member, U.S. National Academy of Medicine
Jerry Lawless
(PhD 1969, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Waterloo
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (1999)
President, Statistical Society of Canada (1993 – 1994)
Robert Brown
(BMath 1971, Actuarial Science)
Professor of Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo
President, Canadian Institute of Actuaries (1990/1991)
President, Society of Actuaries (2000/2001)
President, International Actuarial Association (2014)
Steve Brown
(BMath 1971, PhD 1974, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Waterloo
Honorary Member of the University of Waterloo (2014)
Principal Investigator, Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (1993-2016)
E. Richard Shillington
(BMath 1971, MMath 1973, PhD 1979, Statistics)
Researcher and Advocate in Social Policy
Pierre Robillard Award, Statistical Society of Canada (1979)
Suzanne Peters Award for Citizen Engagement, Government of Canada
Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal (2004)
Allan S. Edwards
(BMath 1973, Actuarial Science)
Executive VP and Actuary, Great-West Life and London Life
Executive VP, Canada Life
Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal (2004)
Canadian Institute of Actuaries Gold Volunteer (2011)
Abdel El-Shaarawi
(PhD 1973, Statistics)
Research Scientist, National Water Research Institute at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters
SSC Award for Impact of Applied and Collaborative Work (2010)
Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal (2008)
Vernon T. Farewell
(BMath 1973, MMath 1974, Statistics)
Senior Scientist/Programme Leader, MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, UK
Professor of Medical Statistics, University College London (1995 – 2001)
Professor of Statistics, University of Waterloo (1985 – 1995)
Editor-in-Chief, Statistics in Medicine
Jane Gentleman
(PhD 1973, Statistics)
Director, Division of Health Interview Statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal (2005)
Nancy Reid
(BMath 1974, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Toronto
COPSS Presidents’ Award (1992)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (2009)
Francis Zwiers
(BMath 1974, Statistics)
Director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium
SSC Award for Impact of Applied and Collaborative Work (2011)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal (2015)
David Bellhouse
(PhD 1975, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Western Ontario
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
President, Statistical Society of Canada (1998 – 1999)
Honorary Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries of the United Kingdom
Jim Brierley
(BMath 1976, Actuarial Science)
President, Munich Re Canada (Life and Health Insurance)
President, Canadian Institute of Actuaries (1993 – 1994)
Chairman, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (2006 – 2007)
University of Waterloo 50th Anniversary Alumni Award
Ian Goulden
(BMath 1976, Statistics)
Professor of Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Dean of Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Stephen C. Smith
(BMath 1976, Actuarial Science)
Board Chair, Rise Air
President and CEO, WestJet Airlines
Senior Vice President, Customer Experience, Air Canada
President and CEO of 4 other airlines in Canada
Wayne Oldford
(BMath 1977, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Waterloo
Editor-in-Chief, Statistics and Computing
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Cindy Forbes
(BMath 1979, Actuarial Science)
Executive Vice President, Manulife Financial
Chairperson of Board of Directors, University of Waterloo
Canada’s Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (2011, 2015)
Robert Tibshirani
(BMath 1979, Statistics)
Professor of Biomedical Data Science and Statistics, Stanford University
COPSS Presidents’ Award (1996)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Britain
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (2012)
Gord Willmot
(BMath 1980, MMath 1981, PhD 1986, Actuarial Science)
Professor of Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo
Editor, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics
Munich Re Chair in Insurance (2001 – 2020)
Art Owen
(BMath 1981, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Stanford University
Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (2021)
Roman Viveros-Aguilera
(PhD 1985, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, McMaster University
President, Statistical Society of Canada (2008 – 2009)
SSC Distinguished Service Award (2012)
Charmaine Dean
(PhD 1988, Statistics)
Vice President, Research and International, University of Waterloo
CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics (2003)
President, Statistical Society of Canada (2006 – 2007)
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (2023)
Christine Anderson-Cook
(BMath 1989, PhD 1994, Statistics)
Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory
ASQ Shewhart Medal (2018), ENBIS George Box Medal (2021)
ASA Gerald J. Hahn Q&P Achievement Award (2021)
Fellow of the ASA and ASQ
Richard Cook
(MMath 1989, PhD 1993, Statistics)
University Professor, University of Waterloo
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1, 2005 – 2019)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Gold Medalist of the Statistical Society of Canada (2017)
Randy Sitter
(PhD 1990, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Simon Fraser University
CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics (2004)
Editor-in-Chief, Technometrics (2005 – 2007)
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Hugh Chipman
(MMath 1991, PhD 1994, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Acadia University
CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics (2009)
Editor-in-Chief, Technometrics (2011 – 2013)
President, Statistical Society of Canada (2017 – 2018)
David X. Li
(MMath 1991, PhD 1995, Actuarial Science)
Professor of Finance, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance
Chief Risk Officer, China International Capital Corporation
Head of Credit Derivative Research and Analytics at Citigroup and Barclays Capital
Head of Modeling for AIG Investments
Jing Qin
(PhD 1992, Statistics)
Mathematical Statistician, National Institute of Health
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Jianguo Tony Sun
(PhD 1992, Statistics)
Curator’s Distinguished Professor of Statistics, University of Missouri
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
President, International Chinese Statistical Association (2020)
Boxin Tang
(PhD 1992, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Simon Fraser University
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Sheldon Lin
(MMath 1993, Actuarial Science)
Professor of Actuarial Science and Statistics, University of Toronto
Editor, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics
Co-Editor, North American Actuarial Journal
Award of Distinction, Canadian Institute of Actuaries (2021)
Ken Seng Tan
(BMath 1993, MMath 1994, PhD 1998, Actuarial Science)
Director, Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre, Nanyang Business School
Professor of Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo (1998 – 2019)
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2, 2005 – 2010)
Shaun Wang
(PhD 1993, Actuarial Science)
Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology
Professor, Nanyang Technological University (2015 – 2020)
Editor, ASTIN Bulletin: Journal of the International Actuarial Association
Deputy Secretary General & Head of Research, The Geneva Association (2013 – 2015)
X. Joan Hu
(PhD 1995, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Simon Fraser University
Editor-in-Chief, Statistics in Bioscience
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Hailiang Yang
(MMath 1995, Actuarial Science)
Professor of Actuarial Science, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Professor of Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong (2006 – 2023)
Editor, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics
Honorary Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries of the United Kingdom
Edward Susko
(PhD 1996, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, Dalhousie University
CRM-SSC Prize in Statistics (2011)
Matthias Schonlau
(PhD 1997, Statistics)
Professor of Statistics, University of Waterloo
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Humboldt Prize (2022)
Sid Sankaran
(BMath 1999, Actuarial Science)
Managing Director and Group CFO, FWD Insurance (Hong Kong)
Chief Risk Officer and Chief Financial Officer of AIG (2010 – 2015)