Greetings, alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the UGA department of statistics. I hope you enjoy our fall 2025 newsletter. It has been a busy year, and there is much to report! I think you’ll be interested in reading about the recent launch of our online Master’s of Science in Applied Data Science, about a lively and stimulating Georgia Statistics Day earlier this semester, and about recent news and accomplishments of our faculty, students, and alumni. As the year draws to a close, I am thankful for your continued support, and I wish you a wonderful new year. Please read on!
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| Pictured: Dan Hall, Professor and Interim Head |
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Give to support our efforts here.
Sincerely, Dan Hall |
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Pictured: Man Basnet, Associate Program Director |
| New Online Master’s in Applied Data Science
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We are proud to announce our new online Master’s of Science in Applied Data Science, with the first cohort beginning in August. Students are excelling as they balance graduate study with work and family while gaining advanced skills in Python, R, machine learning, and cloud-scale data processing. With strong interest for a fall 2026 cohort and an advisory board in development, the program is building momentum and shaping future data leaders. If you, or someone you know, is interested or would like to read more, visit here.
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Statistical Consulting Center
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With support from the Office of Research, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Graduate School, the department operates the UGA Statistical Consulting Center (SCC) to provide statistical support and collaboration opportunities for researchers at UGA. Learn more about SCC projects, activities and staff here. |
| Pictured: Recipients of 2025 Graduate Student Awards |
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Pictured: Dipankar Bandyopadhyay |
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We are pleased to congratulate Dipankar Bandyopadhyay on his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). A biostatistics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Bandyopadhyay is a prolific researcher on statistical methodology with diverse applications in health sciences.
We would love to hear more news of our alumni and friends. Please let us know what is happening in your world via our Alumni News Form, which can be found on the departmental webpage.
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Each year brings changes through hirings, promotions, departures, and so on. Here, we share some recent highlights: |
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We are very proud to announce that University Professor Lynne Billard will receive an honorary doctorate in science from her alma mater, the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Read more about her award here.
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Pictured: Ma giving the keynote at IBM headquarters |
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Faculty and Student Accomplishments |
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We are so proud of our outstanding people! Our faculty, students, and staff are dedicated, talented, and hard-working. These traits are demonstrated every day in myriad ways, but it is especially gratifying when these folks are recognized for their efforts: |
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This fall, several students received scholarships to support their education. First-year PhD student Bella Salter was awarded a Graduate School Doctoral Fellowship; data science master’s student Blake Gee received the 2025 James David Lifsey Graduate Fellowship in Statistics and Data Science; and applied data science master’s student Kevin Kerguelen
received a Statistics Student Support Fund Scholarship. We are deeply grateful to the generosity of donors who make such awards possible, in particular, Mr. J. David Lifsey, Mr. Devdutt Yellurkar, and the Bargmann Family.
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At the undergraduate level, data science major Sloka Sudhin was awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship; data science major Jasmine Nguyen
’s team recently placed third in the Avant South Innovation Cup; and statistics major Deeya Datta was runner-up for the Undergraduate Presentation Award at the 2024 AISC Conference. Sudhin and Datta were also recognized with Best Student Poster Awards at the 2025 Georgia Statistics Day (GSD 2025).
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At the graduate level, statistics PhD student Shushan Wu won the 2025 ASA Student Paper Competition in Statistical Computing and Statistical Graphics; statistics PhD student Luyang Fang received the 2025 James L. Carmon Scholarship from UGA; and statistics PhD student Jiazhang Cai received a Best Student Poster Award at GSD 2025
. Be sure to check our website for more Graduate Student Highlights from the past year, including departmental award winners and news about jobs and post-docs taken by our most recent alumni.
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Several faculty members were recognized recently for outstanding teaching. These individuals include Lynne Seymour, recipient of the 2025 Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award from the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Abhyuday Mandal, Maduranga Dassanayake, and Sarangan Balasubramaniam, all of whom were nominated for the Franklin College Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
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Pictured: Students and faculty at this year's Georgia Statistics Day |
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On Halloween, the department hosted Georgia Statistics Day, drawing a record number of participants. Highlights included a poster session with 50+ student projects, industry talks from JMP and UPCR, and a keynote by Liza Levina of the University of Michigan. The event brought together statisticians and data scientists from across Georgia. Read more here |
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Each April, we host the Bradley Lecture, honoring the late Ralph A. Bradley. Last year’s speaker, Daniela Witten of the University of Washington, delivered engaging talks on innovative data-splitting methods. On April 3, 2026, we welcome Nobel Laureate Lars Peter Hansen of the University of Chicago, renowned for his work on the generalized method of moments.
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| Pictured: Lars Peter Hansen |
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UGA-Clemson Joint Colloquium |
The UGA department of statistics and Clemson University continue their tradition of collaboration through the annual Joint Colloquium. This year’s event will be hosted at UGA on March 26, 2026, featuring guest speaker Sujit Ghosh, Professor of Statistics at NC State University. |
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The department is excited to host American Statistical Association’s DataFest April 10-12, 2026. This will be our first time hosting and we are excited to partner with the UGA Innovation District, which will provide a great venue for the event. Please read more on our website. |
| Pictured: Innovation District classroom |
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Pictured: Stat Club Picnic 2025 |
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Our student organization, the STAT Club, organizes a variety of fun events and academic events each year like the Bradley Lecture, Georgia Statistics Day, and occasional Industry Days. Highlights from the last year include the 2025 departmental picnic and the International Potluck Dinner.
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