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Pengfei Li, Professor of Statistics in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at University of Waterloo, has been named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS).

Dr. Li received the award for ground-breaking and pioneering research contributions to the EM-test for the order of finite mixture models; for original and creative methodological developments in the areas of the empirical likelihood, density ratio models, statistical genetics, non-probability sampling; for exceptional research productivity; and excellence in statistical education.

Founded in 1935, the IMS is one of the world’s premier societies in statistics and probability. Each Fellow nominee is assessed by a committee of their peers and the election is based on “demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability, by publication of independent work of merit”. This qualification may be partly or wholly waived in the case of either a candidate of well-established leadership whose contribution to the field of statistics or probability other than original research shall be judged of equal value; or a candidate of well-established leadership in the application of statistics or probability, whose work has contributed greatly to the utility of and the appreciation of these areas.

The list of the 2022 class of IMS Fellows can be found at the IMS website.

Meng Yuan is awarded the Mathematics Doctoral Prize (Third Place) for her dissertation entitled “Semiparametric Empirical Likelihood Inference under Two-Sample Density Ratio Models”, which was completed in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science in 2021 under the joint supervision of Pengfei Li and Changbao Wu.

The Mathematics Doctoral Prizes valued at $1500, $1000 and $500 are given annually to recognize the achievement of graduating doctoral students in the Faculty of Mathematics. Recipients are selected by a committee within the Faculty of Mathematics based on nominations received for consideration of the Governor General’s Gold Medal in March.

Meng Yuan is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science working on research projects related to the emerging topics of data integration and non-probability survey samples.

Gord Willmot, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, was named among the most recent winners of the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

Richard Cook, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, is the recipient of a major Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding award.

Distinguished Professor Emerita Mary Thompson and professor Changbao Wu from the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science are part of a research team conducting a project on how policies impact smoking, vaping and the use of other nicotine products.

The Sprott Scholarship is named after Professor D.A. Sprott, the founding Chair of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, and is awarded annually to a registered full-time student who has been recognized by the Department as having shown particular promise in research in the PhD program prior to the final approval of their thesis. The selection is made by the Awards subcommittee of the Statistics and Actuarial Science Graduate Committee.

Congratulations to the 2020 recipients:

• Yuyu Chen (PhD Actuarial Science)
• Fangya Mao (PhD Statistics (Biostatistics))
• Kelly Ramsay (PhD Statistics)

The accolade is given annually to a statistician who embodies the three-fold accomplishments of Dr. Donald B. Owen. Owen excelled in the areas of research, statistical consultation, and service to the statistical community.

Richard J. Cook, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, has been named a fellow the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). The prestigious RSC award accentuates Cook’s storied academic career and voluminous research portfolio.