Louise Marie Ryan is an Australian biostatistician, a distinguished professor of statistics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, president-elect of the

International Biometric Society The International Biometric Society (IBS) is an international professional and academic society promoting the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in the biosciences, including biostatistics. It sponsors ...

, and an editor-in-chief of the journal '' Statistics in Medicine''. She is known for her work applying statistics to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and

risk assessment Broadly speaking, a risk assessment is the combined effort of: # identifying and analyzing potential (future) events that may negatively impact individuals, assets, and/or the environment (i.e. hazard analysis); and # making judgments "on the to ...

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...

Education and career

Ryan graduated in 1978 from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, beginning her studies in actuarial science but shifting to statistics under the mentorship of Don McNeil. She completed her PhD in 1983 from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Her dissertation, ''The Weighted Normal Plot II: Efficiency of Tests for Carcinogenicity'', was supervised by Arthur P. Dempster. She remained at Harvard as a postdoctoral researcher and faculty member. At Harvard, she became the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Biostatistics, and chaired the biostatistics department. In 2009, she returned to Australia as Chief of the Division of Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics at

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

. In 2012, she moved again, to the

Awards and honours

Ryan became a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of 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 1993. She is also an elected member of 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 ...

, and was elected to the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...

in 2008. In 2012 she became a fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

for "developing and applying statistical methods to diverse areas of public interest, including financial risk, climate change and cancer". In 2015 she received the 2015 Centennial Medal from Harvard University. which is an honour given by Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to recipients of graduate degrees from the School for their contributions to society. Other notable figures to receive the prestigious award include authors Margaret Atwood (1990) and Susan Sontag (1991). In 2018 she was awarded the Pitman Medal for outstanding achievement in statistics by the Statistical Society of Australia.

References

External links

A conversation with Louise Ryan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Louise M. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian statisticians Women statisticians Macquarie University alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty Academic staff of the University of Technology Sydney Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Members of the National Academy of Medicine