Jana Lynn Asher is a statistician known for her work on

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and

sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

. She is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at

Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...

. She was a co-editor of the book ''Statistical Methods for Human Rights'' with

David L. Banks David L. Banks is an American statistician. He is a former editor of the ''Journal of the American Statistical Association''; a founding editor of the journal ''Statistics, Politics and Policy''; and a co-editor of the monograph ''Statistical M ...

and Fritz Scheuren. Asher volunteers for 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 ...

in several roles, including as the Program Chair for 2022 for its Section on Survey Research Methods. She was elected as the Council for Sections Representative to the ASA's Board of Directors for the 2023-25 term. Asher was appointed to be the Chair of the Committee on the History of Statistics of the International Statistical Institute.

Education

Asher majored in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and

Japanese studies Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japan ...

at Wellesley College, graduating in 1991. She earned a master's degree (1999) and Ph.D. (2016) in statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her dissertation, ''Methodological Innovations in the Collection and Analysis of Human Rights Violations Data'', was supervised by Stephen Fienberg.

Recognition

Asher was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

in 2009 "for excellence in the application of statistical methodology to human rights and humanitarian measurement problems; for leadership toward placing human rights violations research on a sound statistical basis; and for service to the profession". In 2010 she became an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. In 2022 she received the Caucus for Women in Statistics Societal Impact Award for "her work combating societal injustice through accurate and ethical quantitative measurement, and for her commitment toward teaching civic responsibility and JEDI principles through statistical practice." JEDI stands for "Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asher, Jana Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American statisticians Women statisticians Wellesley College alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni Fellows of the American Statistical Association Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute