Each year, the American Statistical Association (ASA), along with several other co-sponsoring societies, hosts the Join Statistical Meetings (JSM), the largest gathering of statisticians and data scientists held in North America. This event brings together statistical professionals from all over the world, at all stages of their careers- from academia, industry, and government to exchange ideas and explore opportunities for collaboration. Topics range from statistical applications to methodology and theory to analytics and data science.
This year, around 5,000 statisticians traveled to JSM in Nashville, Tennessee, including at least 10+ members of the Washington University Department of Statistics & Data Science (SDS). During this conference, our Department Chair, Xuming He, received the 2025 Gottfried E. Noether Distinguished Scholar Award. He also delivered his Noether presentation at a special session at JSM.
Several other members of our department gave talks- including Professor Xiaofeng Shao, Professor Nan Lin, Professor Soumen Lahiri, Professor Ran Chen, PhD student Zitian Zhou, and PhD student Shourjo Chakraborty. Professors Bo Li and Debashis Mondal chaired sessions at the event.
On the second evening of the conference, SDS hosted the WashU Alumni and Friends Reception, where we were joined by over one hundred alumni and friends of the department. For many, this was an opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues, and friends from all over the world. For all, this was a chance to make new connections and exchange ideas. A number of postdoctoral fellows and PhD students from our peer institutions came to inquire about our department vision and future hiring plans. Several senior members of our profession stopped by to congratulate us on the accomplishments of this young department. Special thanks go to department administrator Rhiannon Amato, who organized this successful reception at JSM 2025.
We look forward to joining our colleagues once again at next year's Joint Statistical Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts!
