Cathy Ann Furlong is an American statistician active in volunteer work for statistical organizations. She is the former president of Statistics Without Borders, and represents the US in the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...

Committee on Women in Statistics.

Education and career

Furlong earned a master's degree in statistics from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, under the mentorship of

Mary W. Gray Mary Lee Wheat Gray (born April 8, 1938) is an American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer. She is the author of books and papers in the fields of mathematics, mathematics education, computer science, applied statistics, economic equity, dis ...

, who also later encouraged her in her volunteer work. She worked in the public school system as a mathematics and statistics teacher until retiring in 2008, and continues to work as a Medicare and

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...

fraud investigator for Integrity Management Services, Inc.

Volunteer work

Furlong was the chair of Statistics Without Borders from 2014 to 2018, and continues to serve as its past chair. The organization provides statistical consulting on a volunteer basis, particularly to organizations and countries in the developing world; as of 2015, it had approximately 1400 members. She is one of three US representatives on the

Committee on Women in Statistics, and has also been active in the

Caucus for Women in Statistics The Caucus for Women in Statistics is a professional society for women in statistics. It was founded in 1971, following discussions in 1969 and 1970 at the annual meetings of the American Statistical Association, with Donna Brogan as its first pr ...

, including serving as its membership coordinator.

Recognition

In 2017 the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...

elected Furlong as a fellow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furlong, Cathy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American statisticians American women statisticians American University alumni Fellows of the American Statistical Association