Welcome Letter from the Chair
Since its
founding in 1949, the Department of Statistics at the
University
of
Chicago
has been at the forefront of scholarship in the theory and application
of statistics and probability. The faculty of the department has long
been recognized for its quality and diversity of interests, and graduates
of our Ph.D. program are counted among the leaders of the field.
The Department
of Statistics offers two tracks of graduate study, one leading to the
Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree, the other to the Doctorate of Philosophy
(Ph.D.). The M.Sc. degree is a professional degree—students who
receive this degree are prepared for nonacademic careers in which the
use of advanced statistical methods is of central importance but are
also prepared for further graduate study. The Ph.D. program prepares
students for independent statistical research in academic, industrial,
or public policy settings. Students in both programs are expected to
acquire a common core of basic knowledge in statistical theory and applied
statistical methodology, but students may tailor their programs to specialized
areas of application, including biostatistics, computer vision and image
analysis, environmental statistics, statistical genetics, and finance.
Students may also specialize in probability theory and stochastic processes.
I hope that,
having found your way to our web site, you will take the opportunity
to find out more about us. The Admissions section has
links to pages with detailed information about our graduate programs,
the admissions process, and student life at the university. The Statistics Department home page has links
to sections describing our faculty's research interests and their publications,
our seminars and colloquia, our course offerings, and our consulting
program. If you have specific questions about our graduate programs
or our admissions process, please contact our Admissions Committee Chair,
Michael Wichura, by email.
If you have other questions about our department, please feel free to
write an email to me.
With regards,
Stephen M. Stigler,
Chairman
August 2009
