STATS: Data and Models

Richard D. DeVeaux is an internationally known educator and consultant. He has taught at the Wharton School and the Princeton University School of Engineering, where he won a “Lifetime Award for Dedication and Excellence in Teaching.” Since 1994, he has been Professor of Statistics at Williams College. Dick has won both the Wilcoxon and Shewell awards from the American Society for Quality. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). In 2008, he was named Statistician of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the ASA. Dick is also well known in industry, where for more than 25 years he has consulted for such Fortune 500 companies as American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Alcoa, DuPont, Pillsbury, General Electric, and Chemical Bank. Because he consulted with Mickey Hart on his book Planet Drum, he has also sometimes been called the “Official Statistician for the Grateful Dead.” His real-world experiences and anecdotes illustrate many of this book’s chapters.   Dick holds degrees from Princeton University in Civil Engineering (B.S.E.) and Mathematics (A.B.) and from Stanford University in Dance Education (M.A.) and Statistics (Ph.D.), where he studied dance with Inga Weiss and Statistics with Persi Diaconis. His research focuses on the analysis of large data sets and data mining in science and industry.   In his spare time, he is an avid cyclist and swimmer. He also is the founder of the “Diminished Faculty,” an a cappella Doo-Wop quartet at Williams College and sings bass in the college concert choir. Dick is the father of four children.   Paul F. Velleman has an international reputation for innovative Statistics education. He is the author and designer of the multimedia Statistics program ActivStats, for which he was awarded the EDUCOM Medal for innovative uses of computers in teaching statistics, and the ICTCM Award for Innovation in Using Technology in College Mathematics. He also developed the award-winning statistics program, Data Desk, and the Internet site Data and Story Library (DASL) (lib.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/), which provides data sets for teaching Statistics. Paul’s understanding of using and teaching with technology informs much of this book’s approach.   Paul has taught Statistics at Cornell University since 1975. He holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College in Mathematics and Social Science, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Statistics from Princeton University, where he studied with John Tukey. His research often deals with statistical graphics and data analysis methods. Paul co-authored (with David Hoaglin) ABCs of Exploratory Data Analysis. Paul is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Paul is the father of two boys.   David E. Bock taught mathematics at Ithaca High School for 35 years. He has taught Statistics at Ithaca High School, Tompkins-Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University. Dave has won numerous teaching awards, including the MAA’s Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching (twice), Cornell University’s Outstanding Educator Award (three times), and has been a finalist for New York State Teacher of the Year.   Dave holds degrees from the University at Albany in Mathematics (B.A.) and Statistics/Education (M.S.). Dave has been a reader and table leader for the AP Statistics exam, serves as a Statistics consultant to the College Board, and leads workshops and institutes for AP Statistics teachers. He has recently served as K–12 Education and Outreach Coordinator and a senior lecturer for the Mathematics Department at Cornell University. His understanding of how students learn informs much of this book’s approach.   Dave and his wife relax by biking or hiking, spending much of their free time in Canada, the Rockies, or the Blue Ridge Mountains. They have a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.