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This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Statistics

In this section:

Minor in Statistics

Master of Science in Statistics

Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics

Ph.D. Minor in Statistics

Up one level:

School of Humanities and Sciences

Emeriti: Theodore W. Anderson, Jerome H. Friedman, Ingram Olkin, Charles Stein, Paul Switzer

Chair: Wing H. Wong

Professors: Emmanuel Candes, Thomas M. Cover, Amir Dembo, Persi Diaconis, David L. Donoho, Bradley Efron, Trevor J. Hastie, Iain M. Johnstone, Tze L. Lai, Art Owen, Joseph P. Romano, David O. Siegmund, Robert J. Tibshirani, Guenther Walther, Wing H. Wong

Associate Professor: Jonathan Taylor

Assistant Professors: Andrea Montanari, Balakanapathy Rajaratnam, Nancy Zhang

Professor (Teaching): Susan Holmes

Courtesy Professors: Philip W. Lavori, Richard A. Olshen, Hua Tang

Courtesy Associate Professors: Simon Jackman, David Rogosa, Chiara Sabatti

Consulting Professors: John Chambers, Charles Chui

Stein Fellow: Michael Baiocchi

Mail Code: 94305-4065

Phone: (650) 723-2620

Web Site: http://stat.stanford.edu

Courses offered by the Department of Statistics are listed under the subject code STATS on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site.

The department's goals are to acquaint students with the role played in science and technology by probabilistic and statistical ideas and methods, to provide instruction in the theory and application of techniques that have been found to be commonly useful, and to train research workers in probability and statistics. There are courses for general students as well as those who plan careers in statistics in business, government, industry, and teaching.

The requirements for a degree in Statistics are flexible, depending on the needs and interests of the students. Some students may be interested in the theory of statistics and/or probability, whereas other students may wish to apply statistical and probabilistic methods to a substantive area. The department has long recognized the relation of statistical theory to applications. It has fostered this by encouraging a liaison with other departments in the form of joint and courtesy faculty appointments: Economics (Anderson), Education (Olkin, Rogosa), Electrical Engineering (Cover), Geological and Environmental Sciences (Switzer), Health Research and Policy (Efron, Hastie, Johnstone, Lavori, Olshen, Tibshirani, Wong), Mathematics (Dembo, Diaconis), Political Science (Jackman), and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Friedman). The research activities of the department reflect an interest in applied and theoretical statistics and probability. There are workshops in biology/medicine and in environmental factors in health.

In addition to courses for Statistics majors, the department offers a number of service courses designed for students in other departments. These tend to emphasize the application of statistical techniques rather than their theoretical development.

The Department of Statistics is well equipped for statistical applications and research in computational statistics. Computer facilities include several networked Unix servers and a PC lab for general research and teaching use. The Mathematical Sciences Library serves the department jointly with the departments of Mathematics and Computer Science.

The department has always drawn visitors from other countries and universities. As a consequence, there is usually a wide range of seminars offered by both the visitors and the department's own faculty.

Undergraduate Programs in Statistics

Majoring in Statistics

Students wishing to build a concentration in probability and statistics are encouraged to consider declaring a major in Mathematical and Computational Science. This interdepartmental program is administered in the Department of Statistics and provides core training in computing, mathematics, operations research, and statistics, with opportunities for further elective work and specialization. See the "Mathematical and Computational Science" section of this bulletin.

Graduate Programs in Statistics

University requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are discussed in the "Graduate Degrees" section of this bulletin.

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