Nancy Margaret Reid (born September 17, 1952) is a Canadian theoretical

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

. She is a professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

where she holds a

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Statistical Theory. In 2015 Reid became Director of the Canadian Institute for Statistical Sciences. Reid has served as President of the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts o ...

and the

Statistical Society of Canada The Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) (french: Société statistique du Canada) is a professional organization whose mission is to promote the use and development of statistics and probability. Its objectives are * to make the general public aw ...

. She is co-editor of the ''

Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application The ''Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews (publisher), Annual Reviews. It releases an annual volume of review articles relevant to the field of statistics. It has been ...

''. In 1992, Reid received the

COPSS Presidents' Award The COPSS Presidents' Award is given annually by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies to a young statistician in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics. The COPSS Presidents' Award is generally ...

for outstanding contributions to statistics. She is a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Royal Society of Canada; a Foreign Associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

; and an

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

Education

Nancy Reid was born in St. Catharines, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She studied mathematics and statistics at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

, earning her B.Math in 1974. She earned her M.Sc. at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1976. At

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

she worked with Rupert G. Miller, Jr., receiving her Ph.D. in 1974. Reid did postdoctoral work with David Cox at the

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

from 1979–1980.

Career and research

From 1980-1985 Reid was an associate professor at the

. She then joined the

and has remained there ever since, becoming a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1988. Reid was the first woman to hold a

in statistics. As Chair of the “Long Range Plan Steering Committee for Mathematics and Statistics” Reid shaped Canadian national policy on mathematical sciences, leading to the creation of the virtual distributed Canadian Institute for Statistical Sciences (CANSSI) in 2012. She has been the Director of CANSSI since 2015. Reid studies the foundations and properties of methods of statistical inference in order to discover how inferential statements can accurately and effectively summarize complex data sets. Reid served as Editor-in-Chief of ''

The Canadian Journal of Statistics The Canadian Journal of Statistics / La Revue Canadienne de Statistique is the official journal of the Statistical Society of Canada. Established in 1973, the journal is published quarterly by John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., common ...

'' from 1995–1997 and the ''

'' (2018-). She served as President of the

(1996-1997), and of the

(2004–2005).

Awards and honours

Reid won the

in 1992, the

Krieger–Nelson Prize The Krieger–Nelson Prize is presented by the Canadian Mathematical Society in recognition of an outstanding woman in mathematics. It was first awarded in 1995. The award is named after Cecilia Krieger and Evelyn Nelson, both known for their contri ...

in 1995, the

Gold Medal and

Florence Nightingale David Award The Florence Nightingale David Award is an award given every two years (in odd-numbered years) jointly by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies and Caucus for Women in Statistics to a distinguished female statistician. Description ...

in 2009, and the

Distinguished Service Award in 2013. She was made an

(awarded 2014, invested 2015) "for her leadership in the field of statistical inference, which has helped to facilitate sound public policy decision making." In 2022, Reid won the

Guy medal The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Silver and Bronze medals are awarded annually. The Gold Medal was awarded every three years between 1987 and 2011, but is awarded biennia ...

in Gold "for her pioneering work on higher-order approximate inference which provides a foundational basis for optimal information extraction from data, and has wide-ranging impact on the practice of data analysis". In 1989 she 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 ...

. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001. She is also a Fellow of the

. In 2015 she was elected a Corresponding

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This socie ...

, and in 2016 a foreign associate of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

.. She was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) in 2018. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:

Some publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Nancy 1952 births Living people Canadian statisticians Officers of the Order of Canada Presidents of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Women mathematicians Women statisticians University of Toronto faculty University of British Columbia faculty Canadian women academics Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the Statistical Society of Canada Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society Female Fellows of the Royal Society Annual Reviews (publisher) editors University of Waterloo alumni