UCF Statistics Welcomes New Chair
This month the UCF Statistics Department will welcome Shunpu Zhang, Ph.D., as chair of the department.
Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta and comes from his most recent position at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He helped lead the development of UNL’s Ph.D. program, and has played a key role by teaching core classes and supervising many doctoral students.
While at Nebraska, he also served as a mathematical statistician for the National Cancer Institute. He has a strong publication record reflecting broad research interests including empirical Bayes data analysis, bioinformatics, genetic epidemiology, health informatics, and work in big data analytics.
In his leisure time, Dr. Zhang enjoys fishing, traveling, and spending time with his 13-year-old son.
The Statistics Department as well as the UCF College of Sciences thanks David Nickerson, Ph.D., for serving as department chair for over ten years. Michael Johnson, Dean of the UCF College of Sciences, thanked Dr. Nickerson for this dedication to the department.
“His strength, determination, and generosity were critical to helping the department not only weather some challenging years, but emerge in terrific shape. I hope that you will join me in thanking Dr. Nickerson for his great work. Working with him has been a great pleasure,” Dean Johnson said.
The UCF College of Sciences celebrated Dr. Nickerson’s service to the department and university with a cake at the college chairs meeting on August 5th.