Statistics Professor Named American Statistical Association Fellow
Yanqing Sun, professor of statistics in UNC Charlotte’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, in June was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation’s preeminent professional statistical society.
To be recognized as a 2013 ASA Fellow, each honoree must make outstanding professional contributions to and have exhibited leadership in the field of statistical science. Sun was honored for outstanding contributions to statistical research on survival and event history data, competing risks data and longitudinal data; for excellence in applications of statistical methodology in biomedical research; and for outstanding service to teaching and the profession.
“I love my job as a statistician and as a professor,” Sun said. “Being elected as an fellow of the American Statistical Association is a great honor. I am very happy about this recognition. I would like to thank my colleagues for their support and UNC Charlotte for providing me a working environment that made this possible.”
Sun will receive her award at a ceremony on August 6 at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Sun’s research interests are in survival analysis, parametric and nonparametric methods, estimation and hypothesis testing. She has 45 publications and is a member of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and permanent member of the International Chinese Statistical Association.
Sun earned her Ph.D. in 1993 and her master’s degree in 1990 from Florida State University. She came to UNC Charlotte in 1994. She was a Visiting Scientist at Frontier Science Foundation in Boston in 2002, and an assistant professor on leave from 1995 to 1996 as a contract statistician for the vaccine safety project at the Centers for Disease Control.
She was a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2005 and a visiting scientist at Frontier Science Foundation in Boston in 1998, 2001, and 2002. Sun has been the principal investigator or a co-principal investigator on eight grants funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Members of the America Statistical Association serve in industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. Their peers in the association membership nominate individuals for this honor.
To be honored, nominees must have an established reputation and have made outstanding contributions in statistical science. The Committee on Fellows evaluates each candidate’s contributions to the advancement of statistical science and places due weight to published works, the position held with their employer, ASA activities, membership and accomplishments in other societies and other professional activities.
Words by Kendall Cook