Madhumita (Bonnie) Ghosh-Dastidar

Community

Americans, like people around the globe, have experienced a real loss of community since the pandemic began. The isolation and stress have underscored the importance of interpersonal connections and relationships as well as a sense of belonging. This is no less true for our ASA community, which connects us through our shared interests.

My first experience in understanding the value of community grew out of a need for camaraderie in a small college town 8,000 miles from home. As an undergraduate at Albright College, I started the International Student Association which enabled me and many others from international backgrounds to overcome our isolation and feel connected to college life. Now as head of the RAND Statistics group, I am committed to growing a strong community of statisticians and data scientists.

As ASA president, I will foster community by increasing opportunities for networking and mentoring. During COVID-19, while the ASA adapted quickly to virtual meetings, I think I speak for many when I say that I missed the collegial feeling of in-person gatherings. Moving forward, there’s a real opportunity to use lessons learned to provide a combination of in-person and virtual interactions to maximize and grow community. For example, weekly or monthly virtual meet ups can enable a geographically dispersed group to connect frequently, informally and in small groups, which may be especially beneficial for certain ASA members (e.g., early-career individuals, statisticians needing a mentor, or working in isolated settings). ASA is a community-centric organization with broad goals; there is untapped potential to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in statistics across the career pipeline. We will need to incorporate the recommendations of the ASA’s Anti-Racism Task Force, JEDI outreach group, and the Diversity Mentoring program, as we strive towards our ideal of an inclusive, diverse society.

Collaboration

Going forward, it will take collaboration across disciplines to solve the biggest problems in society—such as pandemic recovery, climate change, education and criminal justice. In an era of data ubiquity and rapid analysis, statisticians are positioned to play a central role in this collaboration, as our work contributes to analysis in nearly every scientific field. There is also a need for standards to ensure sound statistical science, which statisticians can help to develop.

Collaborating across communities is both an important skill and a great joy for statisticians. In the words of John Tukey, “The best thing about statistics is that you get to play in everyone’s backyard.” Working as a statistician in a think tank with broad scope has required me to find a common language in interdisciplinary teams.

I hope to strengthen collaborations across the ASA by increasing cooperation between sections, chapters, and interdisciplinary groups, and statistical societies. To bring together people from different disciplines, the activities sponsored by ASA sections and chapters (e.g., Statistical Learning and Data Science, Biopharmaceutical), such as mixers, hackathons, and conferences, are important to engage new and current members. ASA interest groups can be particularly effective in bringing together people from different disciplines (e.g., Astrostatistics). To further establish statistics in the Data Science curriculum and profession, I will work on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Data Science and collaborate with the continuing committee on data science and AI. Finally, we need to engage in continued dialogue with other societies (e.g., ACM; IEEE-CS; Academy Health; SSRC) to ensure that our profession has representation.

Opportunity

Recent events have spotlighted the need for equal opportunity for different groups of individuals to ensure equity and fairness. Statistics and data science can help to address some of these challenges through statistical analyses.

I was raised in Kolkata in a family that encouraged boys and girls to dream. Being of service to humanity was inspired by my parents’ commitment to helping the disadvantaged in their community. As a first-generation immigrant working in a leading Statistics group in the U.S., I know that opportunity can change people’s lives and career trajectories.

My experiences have taught me how to advocate for statisticians to take on roles not just as skilled technicians but as thought leaders on teams and in organizations, in panels and policymaking, and in how statistics are communicated by the media.

The ASA presidency offers an incredible opportunity to increase DEI in our profession. For example, we can help undergraduates from underrepresented groups (e.g., racial and ethnic; economic; sexual minorities) with graduate school applications, through workshops and other support. Similarly, the ASA can play a role in supporting graduate students from underrepresented groups by helping them build networks of statisticians with similar backgrounds as a source of support and guidance through graduate school. Further, I would like to focus on increasing membership, participation, and leadership opportunities for younger ASA members. They are the future of our profession and society. Finally, we will need to build on the success of campaigns such as This is Statistics to increase awareness of our profession and resources available through ASA membership.