The Chernoff Excellence in Statistics Award
NESS has created and funded The Chernoff Excellence in Statistics
Award on the occasion of Herman Chernoff's 95th birthday to honor
his outstanding, long-term contributions to the field of statistics.
These contributions include work on large sample theory,
experimental design, sequential analysis, methods of presenting
statistical data in visual form, and statistical decision making.
The annual New England Statistics Symposium was established in 1987
at the suggestion of Herman, which ultimately led to the
establishment of NESS as a professional society in 2017. NESS is
envisioned to be an engine to mobilize the abundant pedagogical and
research resources in the New England area and beyond and to promote
and sustain the growth and expansion of statistics as one of the
fundamental pillars of data science.
Recipient(s)
Year |
Recipient(s) |
Topic |
| 2023 |
Nan Laird |
The Power of a Good Book: Elementary Decision Theory by Chernoff and Moses |
| 2022 |
Nitis Mukhopadhyay |
A Slow Dance from Andrey Markov's Inequality to Herman Chernoff's Inequality and Bound: My Memories in a Rear-View Mirror |
| 2021 |
Stuart Geman |
On the Personalization of Medical Therapies Models for Drug Selection, Dosage & Administration |
| 2019 |
Shaw-Hwa Lo |
Interaction-based Variables Selection and Big Data Prediction |
Herman Chernoff Award 2023
Herman Chernoff Award 2022
Herman Chernoff Award 2021
Herman Chernoff Award 2019
Award Committee
The committee is composed of at least three members, including at
least one student or academia descendant of Herman. Each committee
member serves a minimum term of 3 years. New members will be
nominated by current committee members and appointed by the NESS
Council. New appointments will be made on a regular basis to avoid
all committee members leaving at the same time and to ensure at
least one existing committee member to continue his or her service
for at least one more year. The responsibility of the committee
includes (but not limited to) voting on the award recipient,
fundraising for the award, and governing of the award fund.
Current committee members: Joseph C. Cappelleri,
James MacDougall, Junxian Geng, Mark Vangel, Bushi Wang.
Criteria of the Award Recipient
The Chernoff Excellence in Statistics Awards is the most prestigious
award bestowed by the NESS, given to an individual who, in the
tradition of Herman Chernoff's work, has made exceptional
contributions to the theory, methodology, or novel applications of
statistics and/or data science.
The Chernoff Excellence in Statistics Award is awarded to one
recipient every year at the New England Statistics Symposium with
travel expenses covered plus a minimum $500 honorarium to recognize
the researcher's significant contribution to the field of
statistical science.
Nominations
Nomination for the award is to be submitted by January 15 each year.
The procedure for nominating an individual for the Chernoff
Excellence in Statistics Award is as follows.
Award Recipient Responsibilities
The award recipient is responsible for providing a current
photograph and general personal information the year the award is
presented. The New England Statistical Society will use this
information to publicize the award and to prepare the check and
award certificate.
The award recipient will also be asked to deliver a lecture at the
New England Statistical Society's annual meeting.
Finance
The award fund is set aside and governed by the NESS Council and the
award committee. Funding raised for the purpose of the Herman
Chernoff Award is not to be used for other activities of NESS. NESS
Council may transfer the general fund of the organization to the
award fund, but not vice versa. A separate log for fundraising and
distribution of the award is kept by the treasurer of NESS Council.
Fundraising
Fundraising activity is conducted annually to cover the cost of the
award. The award committee is responsible for making proposals
should the amount of the award need adjustment or additional
fundraising be required. Proposals need to be approved by the board
of the NESS Council. An initial fund of $30,000 has been secured as
a dedication to the initial endowment of the Chernoff Award.
Donation
We hope you consider making a generous donation to help fund the
award.
Donate now
Contact
If you have any question regarding the award or donation, please contact NESS Co-Vice Presidents for Strategies and Development Dr. Dooti Roy at dooti.roy@boehringer-ingelheim.com and Dr. Gregory Vaughan at gvaughan@bentley.edu or NESS President Dr. Eric D. Kolaczyk at eric.kolaczyk@mcgill.ca.
