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Mary E. Thompson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary E. Thompson
Alma mater
Known forSurvey methodology and statistical sampling
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsStatistics
InstitutionsUniversity of Waterloo
ThesisSome Aspects of Optimal Stopping Theory (1969)
Doctoral advisorJoseph L. Doob

Mary Elinore Thompson FRSC is a Canadian statistician. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo, the former president of the Statistical Society of Canada, and the founding scientific director of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute. Her research interests include survey methodology and statistical sampling; she is also known for her work applying statistics to guide tobacco control policy.[1]

Education and career

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Thompson studied mathematics at the University of Toronto. She went to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for graduate study, earning a master's degree and her Ph.D. there.[2] Her 1969 dissertation, supervised by Joseph L. Doob, was Some Aspects of Optimal Stopping Theory.[3] From the completion of her doctorate to her retirement, she was a faculty member at the University of Waterloo.[2] She was president of the Statistical Society of Canada for 2003–2004, and has been a director at the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute since 2012.[1]

Thompson is the author of Theory of Sample Surveys (Chapman & Hall, 1997).[4]

Recognition

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Thompson was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1985,[5] and of the Royal Society of Canada in 2006.[6] She is also an elected member of the International Statistical Institute[7] and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.[8] She won the Waksberg Award of Survey Methodology in 2008.[9]

The Statistical Society of Canada awarded her their Gold Medal in 2003,[6] the Lise Manchester Award (with Geoffrey Fong, David Hammond) in 2006, for their work on tobacco,[10] and their Distinguished Service Award in 2014.[2] The Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies gave her their Elizabeth L. Scott Award in 2010 "for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and service that have served to inspire women statisticians; for encouraging women at all levels to seek careers in statistics; for excellence in graduate student supervision and mentorship; and for her leadership to minimize gender-based inequalities in employment."[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mary Thompson", People profiles, University of Waterloo Statistics and Actuarial Science, 2015-02-19, retrieved 2017-11-27
  2. ^ a b c Mary Thompson, Distinguished Service Award 2014, Statistical Society of Canada, retrieved 2017-11-27
  3. ^ Mary E. Thompson at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ^ Reviews of Theory of Sample Surveys:
  5. ^ ASA Fellows list, American Statistical Association, archived from the original on 2017-12-01, retrieved 2017-11-27
  6. ^ a b Directorate, Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, retrieved 2017-11-27
  7. ^ Individual members, International Statistical Institute, retrieved 2017-11-27
  8. ^ Honored Fellows, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, archived from the original on 2014-03-02, retrieved 2017-11-27
  9. ^ Waksberg Award, American Statistical Association Survey Research Methods Section, retrieved 2017-11-27
  10. ^ Geoffrey Fong, David Hammond and Mary Thompson, Lise Manchester Award 2012, Statistical Society of Canada, retrieved 2017-11-27
  11. ^ Elizabeth L. Scott Award, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies, retrieved 2017-11-27