Johnstone named natural sciences dean

BY DAWN LEVY

Statistics Professor Iain M. Johnstone has been appointed cognizant dean for the natural sciences in the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S), effective Sept. 1, H&S Dean Sharon Long has announced. Johnstone succeeds John Brauman, who served four years in the position.

"With his distinguished record of research and demonstrated commitment to the highest standards of excellence, I believe that Iain Johnstone will be an exceptional new leader for the natural sciences cluster," Long said. "He will work as a partner with the faculty to take an already remarkably strong set of departments to even higher levels of distinction."

Johnstone has been a member of the Department of Statistics since 1981 and served as its chair from 1994 to 1997. He also was a member of H&S's Appointments and Promotions Committee from 2000 to 2002. He has held a joint appointment in the Department of Health Research and Policy in the School of Medicine since 1986.

His work in theoretical statistics aims to provide insight into methods of data analysis in diverse areas of science and medicine. He has used ideas from harmonic analysis, such as wavelets, to understand noise-reduction methods in signal and image processing; his papers on these topics contributed to his ranking as third-most-cited mathematician in the world during the 1990s. More recently, he has applied random matrix theory to the study of high-dimensional multivariate statistical methods. In biostatistics, he has collaborated extensively with investigators in cardiology and prostate cancer.

A native of Australia, Johnstone has been recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Presidents' Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Presidential Young Investigator Award and Guy Medal in Bronze from the Royal Statistical Society, of which he is a member. He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the International Statistical Institute, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the American Statistical Association. He has served as president of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and as an adviser to the National Research Council, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Iain M. Johnstone

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