Stats + Stories

Nicholas Horton is a Professor of Statistics at Amherst College. His methodological research interests are in longitudinal regression models and missing data methods. His collaborative statistical work focuses on psychiatric epidemiology and substance abuse research. Nick serves as an associate editor for CHANCE and The American Statistician

Paul Hunter is managing director of Customer Knowledge at Dunnhumby. Customer Knowledge is understanding what customers feel, think and do to empower Dunnhumby’s clients strategies. Dunnhumby works with the world’s largest retailers and brands. Paul has over 25 years in leveraging data and technology to improve marketing decisions.

Christine Franklin, Lothar Tresp Honoratus Honors Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator in Statistics at the University of Georgia, joined the Stats+Stories regulars to talk about educating students to be statistically literate citizens. She was the lead writer for the American Statistical Association (ASA) Pre-K-12 GAISE (Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education) Framework that served as the basis for the statistics strand in the new national Common Core State Standards for K-12 mathematics.

Alex Blumberg is a radio and podcast producer who has launched the podcast 'Startup' - a "series about what happens when someone who knows nothing about business starts one." He had a long a celebrated public radio career at Planet Money and, while there, produced the award winning episode Giant Pool of Money about the housing crises and Wall Street reaction in the late 2000s. He joined the Stats+Stories regulars to talk about reporting financial stories and other stories with strong numeric foundations.

Jessica Utts, professor and chair of the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Irvine, and the incoming 2016 President of the American Statistical Association, joined Stats and Stories to discuss research on the possible existence of psychic abilities. She has been working with researchers who study psychic abilities for several decades, wrote a report for Congress evaluating the US government's work on the topic, and has discussed the work on numerous television programs including Larry King Live and CNN News.

Chris Whittaker Sofge is a toxicologist who leads a team that conducts quantitative risk assessment for hazards in the workplace. She is the Chief of the Risk Evaluation Branch in the Education and Information Division at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/). Her group conducts quantitative risk assessment for hazards in the workplace. To learn more about NIOSH work, check out worker safety and health research data from A (Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance) to (almost) Z (Young Worker Safety and Health) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/data/ ).

Bonnie LaFleur has over fifteen years of experience in statistical and cancer research, and in teaching both physicians and degree seeking statistics/biostatistics students. She is currently a senior manager of biostatistics and data management at Ventana Medical Systems, Inc , which is the tissue diagnostic arm of Roche, Inc. Her primary research interests are in the interface between biology and quantitative methods, specifically the application of statistical methods to cancer biology and novel biologic technologies. Her current work focuses on statistical methodologies used in biomarker development and verification of tissue biomarkers used as companion diagnostics for cancer therapy.

Marie Davidian, William Neal Reynolds professor of statistics from North Carolina State University and past president of the American Statistical Association joined the Stats+Stories regulars to discuss studies that underlie drug development. Marie has broad interest and expertise involving the development and application of statistical methods to challenges in health science research.

Rick Ludwin was hired by NBC Entertainment in 1979 and made director of variety shows there in 1980. He then became vice president for specials and variety programs in 1983; senior VP for specials, variety programs and late-night in 1989; and executive VP for NBC’s late-night and prime time series in 2005. In its 57 years, The Tonight Show has had five permanent hosts, and Rick has been the boss of three of them. His late-night division at NBC developed the hit comedy Seinfeld. Rick, a 1970 Miami University grad, joined the Stats+Stories regulars to discuss the use and impact of ratings on television programming

Jim Oris is Associate Provost for Research, Dean of the Graduate School, and University Distinguished Professor of Biology at Miami University (Ohio). Jim has spent the last 36 years exploring the effects of fossil fuels and their combustion products in freshwater and marine ecosystems. He joined the Stats + Stories regulars to discuss Earth Day and environmental issues related to oil spills and climate change