Membership Biographies

David McLaughlin, New York University David McLaughlin is Provost and Professor of Mathematics and Neural Science at New York University. His research interests are in visual neural science, integrable waves, chaotic nonlinear waves, and mathematical optics. Dr. McLaughlin is the current chair of the Board of Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications.

Spencer Bloch, University of Chicago Spencer Bloch is the R.M. Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Mathematics. Prior to teaching at the University of Chicago, Dr. Bloch held faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at Princeton University. His research interests include K-theory, algebraic geometry, and class field theory. Dr. Bloch completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University in 1966 and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1971. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Bloch is the author of numerous publications and currently holds editorial positions in K-Theory and Mathematical Research Letters.

Avarinda Chakravarti, Institute of Genetic Medicine Avarinda Chakravarti is the Henry J. Knott Professor and Director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research interests are in genetics of common, multifactorial diseases. Dr. Chakravarti’s laboratory focuses on the development and application of molecular genetic, genomic and computational methods for the dissection and identification of the multiple genes and their characteristics, in representative complex human diseases.

Philip Colella, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Philip Colella heads the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The mission of the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group (ANAG) is the development of advanced numerical algorithms and software for partial differential equations integrated with the application of the software to problems of independent scientific and engineering interest. The primary focus of our work is in the development of high-resolution and adaptive finite difference methods for partial differential equations in complex geometries, with applications to internal combustion engines and other industrial problems. In 1998, Dr. Colella was awarded the Sidney Fernbach Award from the IEEE Computer Society for his outstanding work in numerical algorithm development and parallel code design and implementation. The award is given annually to computational scientists who have achieved breakthroughs in high-performance computing. Colella's award cites his "fundamental contributions in the development of software methodologies used to solve numerical partial differential equations, and their application to substantially expand our understanding of shock physics and other fluid dynamics problems." Dr. Colella is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

John E. Hopcroft, Cornell University John E. Hopcroft is the IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics, Dept. of Computer Science, at Cornell University. Previously, he was the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell. Dr. Hopcroft's research centers on the study of information capture and access. This includes the study of large graphs, spectral analysis of structures, clustering and queries. He has also been involved in the theoretical aspects of computing, especially analysis of algorithms, formal languages, automata theory, and graph algorithms. Dr. Hopcroft is the co-author of five books, the editor for Algorithmica and Journal of Computer and System Sciences (JCSS), and is a member of numerous scientific associations. In 1996, he received the prestigious A. M. Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He graduated from Seattle University in 1961 and received his PhD from Stanford University in 1964.

Robert E. Kass, Carnegie Mellon University Robert E. Kass has served on the faculty of the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University since 1981 and has been the Department Head since 1995. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1980. His early work was on geometrical methods in statistics, and his more recent research is in the area of Bayesian inference. In 1991, Dr. Kass began a series of workshops entitled Case Studies in Bayesian Statistics, which are held at Carnegie Mellon in alternate years. He is a co-author of six proceedings volumes that have been published from these workshops. Dr. Kass was the first Vice President of the International Society of Bayesian Analysis. He has served as Chair of the Section for Bayesian Statistical Science of the American Statistical Association and has served on editorial boards for The Annals of Statistics, Biometrika, the Journal of the American Statistical Association, and Statistics in Medicine, and was Executive Editor of Statistical Science from 1992-1994. Dr. Kass’ major applied interests are in neuroscience. In 1997 he joined the faculty of the joint Carnegie Mellon—University of Pittsburgh Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition.

Kathryn B. Laskey, George Mason University Kathryn Laskey is Professor of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University (GMU). She received her master’s Degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Statistics and Public Affairs from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Laskey studies Bayesian inference and decision theory, multi-source fusion, uncertainty in artificial intelligence, and situation assessment. Her broad research interest is the use of information technology to support better inference and decision making. Within this area, her interests lie in understanding the proper role of normative, behavioral, and computational theories in the modeling and support of decision making. Dr. Laskey is a Research Fellow with the Krasnow Institute for Cognitive Science at GMU University and a Research Associate with the Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence at GMU.

Robert Lipshutz, Affymetrix, Inc. Robert Lipshutz is Senior Vice President of Coporate Development and Licensing at Affymetrix, Inc. in Santa Clara, CA. Prior to joining Affymetrix in 1993, Dr. Lipshutz was the Vice President of Daniel H. Wagner and Associates in Sunnyvale, CA. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Mathematics from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985. Dr. Lipshutz was named an NSF Fellow in 1977 and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Mathematical Society, the Operations Research Society of America, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Charles M. Lucas, American International Companies No Biographical Information Available

Prabhakar Raghavan, Standford University Dr. Raghavan is Consulting Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the ACM. Dr. Raghavan holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Madras and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Stephen M. Robinson, University of Wisconsin-Madison Stephen M. Robinson is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1972. He has held administrative appointments as Chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering and as Assistant Director of the Mathematics Research Center, and in 1998-99 was Chair of the University Committee. His research specialty is in mathematical programming (methods for making the best use of limited resources, applied in logistics, transportation, manufacturing, and many other areas). He is author or co-author of 89 scientific research papers, has edited six books, and has directed numerous funded research projects at the University. His research accomplishments have been recognized by the award of the honorary doctor's degree from the University of Zürich, Switzerland, the George B. Dantzig Prize of the Mathematical Programming Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and the John K. Walker Jr. Award of the Military Operations Research Society. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). In addition to research, Robinson has been heavily involved in professional and public service. He has been an elected member of the councils of the Operations Research Society of America (now INFORMS) and of the Mathematical Programming Society, and served for four years as Secretary (and concurrently member of the Board of Directors) of INFORMS. He has also been an editor of several scientific journals, and has served on numerous governmental and professional advisory committees. He is a former Trustee of the Village of Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin, and from 1991-2002 he served on the Board of Overseers of Simon's Rock College (Great Barrington, Massachusetts). Robinson is also a retired colonel in the Army of the United States and a graduate of the U. S. Army War College. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison he served on active duty for six years as a regular Army officer.

Edward J. Wegman, George Mason University Edward J. Wegman is the Bernard J. Dunn Professor of Information Technology and Applied Statistics, the Chair of the Department of Applied and Engineering Statistics and the Director of the Center for Computational Statistics at George Mason University. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Iowa. He spent 10 years on the faculty of the Statistics Department at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Wegman's early career focused on the development of aspects of the theory of mathematical statistics. In 1978, Dr. Wegman went to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) where he was the Head of the Mathematical Sciences Division. In this role, he was responsible for a variety of cross-disciplinary areas including such projects as mathematical models of biological intelligence, mathematical methods for remote sensing, and topological methods in chemistry. Dr. Wegman was the original program director of the basic research program in Ultra High Speed Computing at the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Science and Technology Office (Star Wars Program). As the SDI program officer, he was responsible for programs in software development tools, highly parallel architectures and optical computing. Dr. Wegman came to George Mason University with a background in both theoretical statistics and computing technology, with knowledge of the considerable data analytic problems associated with large scale scientific and technical databases. In 1986, he launched the Center for Computational Statistics and developed the M.S. in Statistical Science degree program. More recently he has been involved with the development of the Institute for Computational Science and Informatics and the new Ph.D. program in Computational Sciences and Informatics at George Mason University. He has been consultant to a variety of governmental and private sector organizations, organized some fifteen major workshops and conferences, and has served as associate editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Statistics and Probability Letters and Communications in Statistics. He presently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, the Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics and Computational Statistics and Data Analysis.

Detlof von Winterfeldt, University of Southern California Detlof von Winterfeldt is the Deputy Dean and Professor of Public Policy and Management in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) at the University of Southern California. For the past twenty-five years, he has been active in teaching, research, university administration, and consulting. He has taught courses in statistics, decision analysis, management science, risk management, and human judgment and decision-making. His research interests are in the foundation and practice of decision and risk analysis as applied to technology and environmental management problems. He is the co-author of two books and author or co-author of over one hundred articles and reports on these topics. His administrative experiences include serving as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research at SPPD, as director of USC’s Institute for Civic Enterprise and as chairman of USC’s Systems Science Department. As a consultant he has applied decision and risk analysis to many management problems of government and private industry. He has served on several committees and panels of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Research Council (NRC), including a recent appointment to the NRC’s Board on Mathematical Sciences and their Applications. In 2000, he received the Ramsey Medal for distinguished contributions to decision analysis from the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS. Dr. Winterfelt received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in Mathematical Psychology.