2023-09-15
- The Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois is home to a group of exceptional student leaders known as the Illinois Statistics Ambassadors. These passionate and driven individuals are committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment for new and prospective students while showcasing the exciting opportunities within the field of statistics. Statistics Ambassadors are...
2023-08-08 - Kelly Findley created the Teaching Assistant (TA) Training Committee in Fall 2020. His purpose behind this was to “enrich the experience of PhD students in the Statistics Department and to give them resources and support to succeed,” said Findley. Committee members meet monthly to engage in discussions related to TA professional development, training, policies, evaluations, mentorship, and...
2023-07-17 - The third annual Blackwell Summer Scholars Program concluded on June 29th, 2023, with the scholars presenting their research projects. This 6-week summer program was planned and put together by the Department of Statistic’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity committee. It was also named in honor of University of Illinois Mathematics alumnus, David H. Blackwell. Created with the purpose of...
2023-07-02 - Professor Xinran Li of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Statistics has been awarded a prestigious NSF CAREER Proposal grant. The grant, titled "Advances in Randomization Inference for Causal Effects: Heterogeneity, Sensitivity, and Complexity”, is funded by the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) within the National Science Foundation (NSF). The CAREER...
2023-06-28 - This summer marks the 3rd consecutive year the Department of Statistics is hosting the David H. Blackwell Summer Scholars Program. It was planned and put together by the department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity committee in honor of a brilliant mathematician alumnus, Dr. David H. Blackwell. This 6-week program was created with the purpose of increasing access and equity for graduates in...
2023-06-20 - The David H. Blackwell Summer Scholars Program began in the Summer of 2021. It was planned and put together by the department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity committee in the honor of Dr. David H. Blackwell. This 6-week program was created with the purpose of increasing access and equity for graduates in statistics, data science, and mathematics. This March, multiple gifted students were...
2023-05-25 - The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has recently announced the selection of 11 projects, with budgets totaling nearly $15 million, as part of its Investment for Growth Program. These projects, chosen in the program's fifth round of funding, embody the spirit of collaboration, innovation, and the potential to make a significant impact on the campus community and beyond. Since its...
2023-05-15 - Congratulations to all those who are graduating this semester! We reached out to a few of our Statistics graduates to reminisce on their time at Illinois, and to see what wisdom they had to pass on to their peers. Shannon Ooi is a transfer student who joined us at Illinois in Fall of ‘21. She is a double major in statistics and economics, as well as a statistics student ambassador....
2023-05-15 - Dr. Karle Flanagan has been named Director of Inclusive Data Science Education. Flanagan has long been involved in furthering the study of data science on campus. According to her, this started in the Summer of 2018, when she attended a conference at UC Berkeley which focused on how they teach data science courses and aim to integrate data science throughout their campus. When she returned,...
2023-05-12 - Five years ago, and with only 18 students, Illinois Computer Science professor Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider began shepherding a remarkable transformation for the new course offering, Data Science Discovery, alongside professor ...
2023-05-01 - The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has awarded funding to three teams of faculty and staff to advance innovative ideas that aim to improve student experiences, from incorporating one-on-one mentorship with teaching to offering Illinois undergrads and incarcerated individuals the opportunity to learn together. The college issued a call for LAS Student Success Innovation proposals earlier...
2023-03-22 - In anticipation for the upcoming 2023 Datathon, let's revisit last year's Datathon and check in with one of the winners, Peiwen Zhang. The Datathon, held every year, challenges hundreds of students to tackle a real-world problem using data. Participants can expect to utilize a variety of data cleaning and visualization software to present a solution for the problem statement. Last year's prompt...
2023-03-13 - George Herman “Babe” Ruth is a baseball legend. He’s the “Great Bambino.” The “Sultan of Swat.” From 1914-1935, Ruth consistently crushed the ball, breaking nearly every standing batting record and tallying a career 714 home runs. By many accounts, the Boston Red Sox star pitcher turned New York Yankee slugger is still considered the greatest baseball player of all time. But, should he be?...
2023-03-07 - The Stat-MS Prep Track at the University of Illinois is an opportunity for upperclassmen who are interested in pursuing a master's degree in statistics to get a head start on their coursework. The program is designed for students who are close to completing their undergraduate degree and have extra time in their schedules. By taking advantage of this spare time, students can begin their master's...
2023-02-28 - Ten university teams have been selected to participate in the live interactions phase of the Alexa Prize SimBot Challenge. As of February, those teams have advanced to the semifinals based on their performance during the initial customer feedback period. Alexa customers can interact with their SimBots by saying "Alexa,...