At JSM this year we learned that Samuel Kou of Harvard’s Department of Statistics won the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) President’s award. The award is given annually to
a young member of the statistical community in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the profession of statistics. The recipient of the Presidents’ Award must be a member of at least one of the participating societies. The candidate may be chosen for a single contribution of extraordinary merit, or an outstanding aggregate of contributions, to the profession of statistics.
Samuel’s work spans a wide range of areas from biophysics to MCMC to model selection with contributions in the top journals in statistics and elsewhere. He is also a member of a highly selective group of people who have been promoted to full Professor at Harvard’s Department of Statistics. (Bonus points to those who can name the last person to achieve such a distinction.)
This is a well-deserved honor to an exemplary member of our field.