Distinguished Alumnus in Statistical Science Award

The first Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Mitchell Gail, who joined the National Cancer Institute in 1969 and went on to serve there for more than 56 years after earning his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1968 and his PhD in Statistics from George Washington University in 1977. His groundbreaking contributions to biostatistics and public health include developing methods for epidemiologic studies and creating the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, widely known as the Gail Model. A former president of the American Statistical Association and member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr. Gail has remained closely connected to the department and recently funded a new Distinguished Seminar Series that will launch in the upcoming academic year. Dr. Gail delivered remarks on the role of statisticians in the era of AI, emphasizing the continued importance of establishing context, designing sound analytical frameworks, and identifying challenges and potential sources of error.

The second Distinguished Alumni Award honored Fritz Scheuren, who earned his PhD in Statistics from George Washington University in 1972 after discovering his passion for the field while working in the Statistics of Income Division of the IRS and taking evening classes at GW. His accomplished career included leadership and research roles at the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and NORC at the University of Chicago, with scholarly contributions focused on sampling, data quality, and statistical methods for human rights. A former president of the American Statistical Association and longtime supporter of the department, Dr. Scheuren is the namesake of the Fritz Scheuren Prize for Leadership and Service, which has recognized outstanding GW statistics students since 2017.