Marvin Zelen (June 21, 1927 – November 15, 2014) was Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

(HSPH), and Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science (the first recipient). During the 1980s, Zelen chaired HSPH's Department of Biostatistics. Among colleagues in the field of statistics, he was widely known as a leader who shaped the discipline of biostatistics. He "transformed clinical trial research into a statistically sophisticated branch of medical research." Zelen was noted for his developing some of the statistical methods and study designs still used in clinical cancer trials, in which experimental drugs are tested for toxicity, effectiveness, and proper dosage. He introduced measures to ensure that data gathered from human trials would be as free as possible of errors and biases—measures that are now standard practice. Zelen helped transform clinical trial research into a well-managed and statistically sophisticated branch of

medical science Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

. His work in this area led to significant medical advances, such as improved treatments for several different forms of

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 ...

. His research also focused on improved early detection of cancer; on modeling the progression of cancer and its response to treatment; and on using statistical models to help determine optimal screening strategies for various common cancers, especially breast cancer. Ironically, he died after a prolonged battle with cancer. One of those

experimental design The design of experiments (DOE, DOX, or experimental design) is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. The term is generally associ ...

models for

randomized clinical trials A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...

is known as

Zelen's design Zelen's design is an experimental design for randomized clinical trials proposed by Harvard School of Public Health statistician Marvin Zelen (1927-2014). In this design, patients are randomized to either the treatment or control group before givin ...

or Zelen's randomized consent design, in which patients are randomized to either the treatment or to the control group before they give their informed consent. Because the group to which any given patient is assigned is known at the time of consenting, the study patient's consent can be sought conditionally. In 1962 Zelen 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 ...

Education

* Diploma -

Evander Childs High School Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...

, New York City, 1944 * B.S. - City College of New York, New York City, mathematics, 1949 * M.S. -

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

mathematical statistics Mathematical statistics is the application of probability theory, a branch of mathematics, to statistics, as opposed to techniques for collecting statistical data. Specific mathematical techniques which are used for this include mathematical an ...

, 1951 * Ph.D. - American University, Statistics, 1957

Work History

* 1951-1952 -

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

* 1952-1961 -

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

(renamed

National Institute of Standards & Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

) * 1960-1961 -

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

(College Park), Associate Professor * 1961-1963 -

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

’s Mathematics Research Center * 1963-1967 -

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

Bethesda, MD Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which i ...

hair, Section on Statistics and Applied Mathematics* 1967-1977 - State University of New York (Buffalo), Professor and Leading Professor * 1975 - Founder, President, Chairman of Board, Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation (a notfor–profit foundation devoted to the advancement of statistical science in clinical trials) * 1977-2014 -

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by ...

, Professor of Statistical Science hair, Department of Biostatistical Science (DFCI)* 1977–2007 -

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard- MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's firs ...

, Professor of Statistical Science hair, HSPH Department of Biostatistics (1981-1990)* 2007-2014 -

, Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science (established by

Derek Bok Derek Curtis Bok (born March 22, 1930) is an American lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University. Life and career Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Following his parents' divorce, he, his mother, brother and siste ...

) Visiting faculty member: *

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

- early 1960s (2 years, from 1961 to 1963) * Imperial College of Science & Technology (London) - Fulbright Scholar *

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

(London) *

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Early life and career before Harvard

Marvin Zelen was born and reared in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he attended and in 1944 received a diploma from

. Then, as a mathematics major at City College of New York, he discovered and developed his lifelong interest in statistics and

probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1, where, roughly speakin ...

. In 1949, he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics there. After earning a master's degree in mathematical statistics from the

in 1951, he worked for 10 years at the mathematics lab of the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He was the only math lab employee without a doctorate, which he later earned in 1957 at American University. In the early 1960s, Zelen spent two years (1961-1963) as a visiting professor at the

’s Mathematics Research Center, where he first worked with cancer researchers, helping them address problems with

study design Clinical study design is the formulation of trials and experiments, as well as observational studies in medical, clinical and other types of research (e.g., epidemiological) involving human beings. The goal of a clinical study is to assess the saf ...

. After that, for four years beginning in 1963, he led the

’s

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

and statistics section, where he delved further into cancer and clinical research. He spent a year in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as a Fulbright Scholar, and then he joined the biostatistics department at the State University of New York in Buffalo, now

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

. During his 10 years in Buffalo, Zelen helped the

Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) began in 1955 as one of the first publicly funded cooperative groups to perform multi-center clinical trials for cancer research. A cooperative group in oncology constitutes a large network of pri ...

(ECOG) — one of several regional organizations established by the

(NCI) to test

experimental cancer treatments Experimental cancer treatments are mainstream medical therapies intended to treat cancer by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods ( surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy). However, researchers are still t ...

— with its studies. In an American University alumni magazine article in 2008, Zelen said those early studies were “terrible.” He said the studies were “poorly thought out; the data was wrong; they had poor quality control, not enough patients — everything you can think of that was antiscientific.” He urged biomedical researchers in charge of the studies to begin from scratch because they had learned relatively little because of study design flaws. They agreed with Zelen, and along with his longtime collaborator Paul Carbone, he established research standards and practice now used in clinical trials for many infectious diseases. During that period, Zelen formed the Statistical Laboratory at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, which focused on overseeing and improving statistical aspects of large, complex drug trials. ECOG would later become one of the world's largest programs for testing and evaluating various cancer treatments. Zelen was also prominent in President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

’s “

war on cancer The "war on cancer" is the effort to find a cure for cancer by increased research to improve the understanding of cancer biology and the development of more effective cancer treatments, such as targeted drug therapies. The aim of such efforts is t ...

” during the early 1970s. He was chair of a committee responsible for designing and organizing the new program. Lee-Jen Wei, HSPH biostatistics professor, called Zelen's involvement in the early

“tremendous and lasting.”

Academic career at Harvard

In the mid-1970s, Zelen's pioneering work in Buffalo brought him to the attention of HSPH's then-biostatistics chair, Frederick Mosteller. Zelen insisted that he would only come to Harvard if he could bring the biostatistics team which he had built in Buffalo, since he wanted to build the world's greatest biostatistics department wherever he went. Thus, in 1977, 27 faculty, researchers, and other staff members moved from Buffalo to Boston, along with their DEC-20 computer and their research projects, the ECOG trials — 150 cancer trials involving several thousand patients. Zelen's lab was established at the

, where, simultaneously with his tenure at HSPH, he built the

’s Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology. Zelen’s colleague and successor (as Department Chair), biostatistics professor Nan Laird, recalled that “those first few years of integrating twelve new faculty members from Buffalo with half as many from Harvard were part of Marvin’s grand plan to make Harvard the nation's leading biostatistics department — which it is and has been for quite some time. It was an enormously exciting time when we were united in working towards a common goal. Marvin’s genius was that he got all of us involved, then stepped back and gave us all the credit.” Zelen served for a decade in the 1980s (1981-1990) as chair of the

's Department of Biostatistics, where he has been credited with transforming HSPH's biostatistics department into the best biostatistics department in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He was also a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at

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 high ...

, in the FAS Department of Statistics in Harvard Square, and voted to remain an Emeritus Professor there, also, until his death in late 2014. In 2007, Zelen became the first holder of the newly named (by Harvard President

) Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science at HSPH. Zelen was known for developing the statistical methods and study designs that are used in clinical cancer trials, in which experimental drugs are tested for toxicity, effectiveness, and proper dosage. He also introduced measures to ensure that data from the trials are as free as possible of errors and biases—measures that are now standard practice. Prof. Zelen helped transform clinical trial research into a well-managed and statistically sophisticated branch of medical science. His work in this area has led to significant medical advances, such as improved treatments for several different forms of cancer. His research also focused on improved early detection of cancer; on modeling the progression of cancer and its response to treatment; and on using statistical models to help determine optimal screening strategies for various common cancers, especially breast cancer. Mitchell H. Gail, MD, PhD, senior investigator in the biostatistics branch of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and president 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 ...

(1995), commented:

Marvin had a lot of guts and a vision for what was important. He finagled NCI into supporting the use of DEC-10 (
PDP-10 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, espec ...
) computers in clinical trials, long before the study section supported it. He inspired the clinical trials community of statisticians.

On a more personal level, Zelen's colleague and successor

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

said that

rof. Zelen wasa tremendous force in my personal and professional life. He was always in and out of my office, asking how things were going. Even as he was trying to convince me to do something I absolutely did not want to do, I always felt his intentions for me were the best. Marvin was always honest and unpretentious.

In 1981, Zelen succeeded

Frederick Mosteller Charles Frederick Mosteller (December 24, 1916 – July 23, 2006) was an American mathematician, considered one of the most eminent statisticians of the 20th century. He was the founding chairman of Harvard's statistics department from 19 ...

as Biostatistics Chair. He continued working on the ECOG trials, helped lay the groundwork for the department's pre-eminence in AIDS clinical trials, and improved the biostatistics curriculum. As its chair, he helped propel the department to its position as a leading center for biostatistical research. Zelen also achieved another level of fame in the early 1980s when he and his late colleague (died 2009) in the biostatistics department, Stephen Lagakos, launched a study of a possible connection between a cluster of childhood leukemia cases in Woburn and the town's water supply. Known as the Harvard Health Study, the investigation showed, for the first time, a connection between Woburn's contaminated water and a variety of adverse health effects, including

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. The matter made headlines, wound up in court, and was chronicled in the book A Civil Action, which was later made into a movie. As the book notes, when Prof. Zelen announced the study's results in the basement of a Woburn church in February 1984, someone in the audience called out, “Thank God for Marvin Zelen,” and the crowd burst into applause. Another of Zelen's achievements was his establishment, in 1975, of the Frontier Science and Technology Research Foundation in Boston, a nonprofit devoted to advancing the use of statistical science and practice and data management techniques in science, health care, and education. Prof. Zelen served as president, and his wife Thelma was chief administrative officer. Several of his other close friends and Harvard colleagues were also directly involved. Richard D. Gelber, professor of biostatistics of HSPH and at DFCI, and winner of the 2008

Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction The Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction was established by Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1992 to recognize leading scientists for their significant work in advancing research concepts or clinical application in the fields of breast canc ...

, noted:

This is another excellent example of how Marvin established an environment within which others could flourish. Thelma’s contributions to Marvin’s success cannot be overlooked. Their partnership is a role model of working together, and she has been a major force in the formation and administrative leadership of Frontier Science as its chief operating officer for almost 40 years.

and, adding his voice of praise for Prof. Zelen's mentorship and generosity

During the past 39 years, Marvin taught me much about the importance of collaborative research, and how progress is fueled by statistical and clinical scientists working together as partners.

Fellow biostatisticians from around the country—people like Jack Kalbfleisch from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ross Prentice from the

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1975 in Seattle, Washington. History The center grew out o ...

, and Norman Breslow from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

- have all spoken of Zelen's huge influence. Said Kalbfleisch, “Marvin was a tremendous force in the profession and a great mentor to so many of his colleagues and students.” Prentice said Prof. Zelen “did much to define the biostatistical profession.” Breslow said he was “greatly influenced by Marvin and his work.” Again, Mitchell H. Gail of

recalled:

So many people were helped by Marvin, whether they needed assistance with starting a company, with a personal matter, or with ideas and guidance in academic statistics. That is truly a legacy to be proud of.

Zelen was survived by his wife, Thelma Geier Zelen, and their two daughters, Deborah and Sandy Zelen, and by two grandsons, Matthew and Toby Mues.

Honors and awards

* Zelen has received numerous awards and honors. His work has been recognized around the world through awards and other accolades. He has received numerous awards, among them from ASA, ISI, IMS; he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1997, in honor of his 70th birthday, the School established the annual Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Science, which has become one of the most prestigious awards in the field, meant to reflect Prof. Zelen's contributions to quantitative science and beyond. The Marvin Zelen Leadership Award in Statistical Science, Awarded annually by the

. The Awards Committee is in the Biostatistics Department of the

in Boston. They administer three other major annual statistical awards, in the spirit of Zelen's aspirations to make the HSPH Biostatistics Department number one among the world's academic biostatistics departments. :Awardees: :* 2014 -

Xiao-Li Meng Xiao-Li Meng (; born 1963) is a Chinese American statistician and the Whipple V. N. Jones Professor of Statistics at Harvard University. He received the COPSS Presidents' Award in 2001. He has written numerous research papers about Markov chai ...

, PhD, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and Whipple V.N. Jones Professor of Statistics at

, "Personalized Treatment: Sounds heavenly, but where on Earth did they find the right guinea pig for me?" :* 2013 - John J. Crowley, PhD, President and CEO of Cancer Research And Biostatistics (CRAB), “A Brief History of Survival Analysis” :* 2012 - Nicholas P. Jewell, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health; Professor, Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, “Counting Civilian Casualties” :* 2011 - J. Richard Landis, “Methods for Investigating Agreement & Concordance: with Applications in the Biomedical Sciences” :* 2010 -

Ingram Olkin Ingram Olkin (July 23, 1924 – April 28, 2016) was a professor emeritus and chair of statistics and education at Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Education. He is known for developing statistical analysis for evalua ...

, Professor and Chair Emeritus of statistics and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

at Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Education, for developing statistical analysis for evaluating policies, particularly in education, and for his contributions to

meta-analysis A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...

statistics education Statistics education is the practice of teaching and learning of statistics, along with the associated scholarly research. Statistics is both a formal science and a practical theory of scientific inquiry, and both aspects are considered in sta ...

multivariate analysis Multivariate statistics is a subdivision of statistics encompassing the simultaneous observation and analysis of more than one outcome variable. Multivariate statistics concerns understanding the different aims and background of each of the dif ...

, and

majorization In mathematics, majorization is a preorder on vectors of real numbers. Let ^_,\ i=1,\,\ldots,\,n denote the i-th largest element of the vector \mathbf\in\mathbb^n. Given \mathbf,\ \mathbf \in \mathbb^n, we say that \mathbf weakly majorizes (or ...

theory, “Measures of Heterogeneity. Diversity and Inequality” :* 2009 - David L. DeMets, “Challenges in Clinical Trials; Some Old and Some New” :* 2008 - Norman E. Breslow, for developing and popularizing case-control matched sample

research design Research design refers to the overall strategy utilized to carry out research that defines a succinct and logical plan to tackle established research question(s) through the collection, interpretation, analysis, and discussion of data. Incorporat ...

s, with co-author Nicholas Day, in their two-volume work ''Statistical Methods in Cancer Research'', “The Case-Control Study: Origins, Modern Conception and Newly Available Methods of Analysis” :* 2007 - Scott L. Zeger, cofounder of journal ''Biostatistics'', “The Symbiosis of Statistical Science and Biomedicine: Past and Future” :* 2006 - Mitchell H. Gail, Past President (1995),

, “Absolute Risk: Clinical Applications and Controversies” :* 2005 - Ross L. Prentice, “Chronic Disease Prevention: Research Strategies and Needs” :* 2004 - Robert C. Elston, “The Analysis of Case-Control Data to Detect Candidate Genes” :* 2003 - Wayne Fuller, “Analytic Studies with Complex Survey Data” :* 2002 - Robert O’Neill, “A Perspective on the Development and Future on Statistics at the FDA” :* 2001 - Niels Keiding, “Event Histories and Their Analysis” :* 2000 - Lincoln E. Moses, “Deciding Whether Large Clinical Trials and Meta-analyses (deceased) Agree or Not” :* 1999 - John W. Tukey, “A Smorgasbord of Handy Techniques That Can Help in (deceased) Analyzing Data” :* 1998 - Sir David Roxbee Cox, “Graphical Models in Statistics: A Review” :* 1997 -

, (former) Chair, Department of Biostatistics,

, “The Importance of Clinical Trials in Education” (deceased) * Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) * Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science * American Statistical Association (ASA) * Institute of Mathematical Statistics * ???? - Lecturer, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. * 1965-1966 - Fulbright Senior Lecturer Award (United Kingdom) * 1966 - Washington Academy of Science Award for distinguished work in mathematics * 1996 - Clair and Richard Morse Award for outstanding achievement in advancing cancer research * 2003 - Docteur, Honoris Causa (honorary doctoral degree), Universite Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, France * 2004 - A special issue of the journal ''Lifetime Data Analysis'' was dedicated to him. * 2006 - Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Award,

* 2007 - R.A. Fisher Lectureship, Fisher Lecturer Award, Committee of the Presidents of the Statistical Society (COPSS), in recognition of his outstanding contributions to statistical science. Award Lecture: "The early detection of disease: Statistical challenges" * 2007
Awarded newly-established Lemuel Shattuck Research Professorship in Statistical Science, established and named by Harvard President Derek Bok, effective September 1, 2007
* 2007 - Lifetime Achievement Award (International Indian Statistical Association) * 2008 - Emanuel & Carol Prize for Statistical Innovation (Texas A&M University) * 2008 - Parzen Prize Lecture, with Nancy Reid, Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University * 2009 (November 11) - Medal of Honor, American Cancer Society’s highest honor, in recognition of his accomplishments in Cancer Research (November 2009). * 2012 - Karl E. Peace award for "Outstanding Statistical Contributions for the Betterment of Society" Symposia * Three symposia have been held around the world in Zelen's honor: :* 1 - 2007 (January 23–25) - International Biometric Society (EMR-IBS), 1st day of the 4th meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Region at the Hilton Hotel, Eilat, Israel, was a dedicated symposium for Dr. Marvin Zelen :* 2 - 2010 (October 2–3)
Lagakos' Symposium

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

- "Impact of Biostatistical Science - Advances in Research: AIDS, Cancer, Environment" :* 3 - 2013 (November 25)
Play the Winner: Honoring the Scientific Achievements of Marvin Zelen
Simmons College, Boston, MA * Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

Boards, Chairmanship, and Professional Service

* Cytel (provider of biostatistics and operations research software and service knowledge)Esha Senchaudhuri, 2014 Zelen Award Honors Statistician and Educator, 2014, accessed 11/21/2014
/ref> * 1997-2000 - Chair, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS)

Collegial praise

Current HSPH biostatistics chair Victor de Gruttola said

Scientists from around the world have benefited from Dr. Zelen’s innovative ideas and transformative effect on biomedical research, but those of us associated with the Harvard Department of Biostatistics are particularly grateful for Dr. Zelen’s commitment to educating students and advancing the careers of junior scientists.

Bibliography

Zelen has had work published in more than 150 publications. The most complete list published in one place is on his profile page in the Harvard Catalyst. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

David Reich, "Thank God for Marvin Zelen", August 15, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelen, Marvin University of North Carolina alumni American University alumni City College of New York faculty City College of New York alumni Harvard School of Public Health faculty Biostatisticians Cancer researchers Jewish American academics Jewish scientists Stevens Institute of Technology faculty University of Maryland, College Park faculty University at Buffalo faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association 1927 births 2014 deaths American medical researchers 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians Mathematicians from New York (state) Scientists from New York City 21st-century American Jews