Department of Statistics - University of Toronto

Gun Ho Jang – finalist for the prestigious Savage Award in Theory and Methods

christine — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:05:52 +0000

Recent graduate Gun Ho Jang’s Ph.D. dissertation

has been selected by the ISBA Prize Committee,

as a finalist for the prestigious Savage Award in Theory and Methods and

he has been invited to present his work at the ISBA World Meeting in Kyoto,

Japan June 25-29, 2012. He was also the winner of the Pierre Robillard

award for his work in 2011. Currently Gun Ho is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of

Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvannia.

The Department is pleased to welcome Sebastian Jaimungal into the role of Associate Chair of Graduate Studies

webadmin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:42:17 +0000

Prof. Jaimungal received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics on topics in Algebraic Topology and Quantum Field Theory. During his Post-Doctoral work he became intrigued by the beauty and complexity of the application of stochastic analysis to financial models. After a short detour as the Chief Architect at a Financial Engineering Software startup, he joined the Department of Statistics where he is now an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies. His current research interests lie in applied probability in Finance and Actuarial Science including: high frequency algorithmic trading, applied stochastic control and Levy processes for derivative valuation.

Congratulations to Jeff Rosenthal for his successful CRIF proposal

webadmin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:10:21 +0000

“Why Numbers Matter”. This new second-year Statistics course is designed to teach non-science students about the importance of Quantitative Reasoning to so many different areas (poetry, gambling, politics, music, medicine, cryptography, finance, sports, demographics, and more).

Quantitative Reasoning (QR) has never been more important for multidisciplinary research, handling modern technology, following news reports, and being a productive and responsible citizen. The Faculty of Arts & Science has recognized this fact by making QR a core competency to be addressed in all undergraduate programs. It is our hope that students taking this new course will gain new technical knowledge and understanding, and also fundamentally change their attitudes about numerical matters – becoming more well-rounded and more productive citizens throughout their lives.

Congratulations to Alison Gibbs for her successful CRIF proposal

webadmin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:51:41 +0000

“Statistical Consultation, Collaboration and Communication”. This fourth year capstone course aligns with new directions in both statistics education and the discipline. By its nature, statistics is collaborative, motivated by the need to develop new methods in the context of pressing scientific problems, including problems arising as a result of the proliferation of data generated by new technologies.

Recent research in statistics education emphasizes the need to immerse students in the process of statistical reasoning and engage them in real, collaborative projects.

Congratulations to Don Fraser

webadmin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:00:17 +0000

Congratulations to Don Fraser for his recent appointment by the Governor General as an Officer of the Order of Canada.This honour was bestowed upon Don for his contributions to the advancement of statistical sciences in Canada.

Don’s impact within Canada can hardly be overstated: he has schooled several generations of leaders in the statistical and actuarial sciences, has made deep and original contributions to the theory of statistics,and has been the foremost intellectual leader of the discipline in Canada for the past 60 years.

Congratulations Professor Andrei Badescu

webadmin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:34:40 +0000

Congratulations to Andrei Badescu who has been granted tenure and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor on July 1, 2011. Professor Badescu is a Professor in Actuarial Science. He is an internationally renowned expert in ruin theory, in particular for his work connecting risk processes with stochastic fluid flows.

New Faculty member: Ruslan Salakhudinov

webadmin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:33:42 +0000

The Department of Statistics is very pleased to annouce the appointment of Ruslan Salakhudinov.

Dr. Salakhudinov arrives from the Deaprtment of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests lie in statistical and machine learning and in particular learning deep generative models.