Departmental Awards and Endowed Funds
The Department of Statistics & Data Science at CMU is proud to provide various awards that honor the individuals who shape our community through their dedication and achievement.
Our standing awards recognize excellence in areas such as research, teaching, and service, highlighting the values that define our department. Each award reflects our commitment to fostering a culture of rigor, curiosity, and impact. Our awards highlight the achievements of our students while also providing an avenue for recognition of their exemplary efforts.
Research
Umesh K. Gavaskar Memorial Thesis Award
This award honors a graduating Ph.D. student whose dissertation reflects exceptional scholarly rigor and originality. Named in memory of Umesh K. Gavaskar, the award recognizes work that advances the field of statistics and data science through deep theoretical insight or impactful methodological innovation.
Umesh K. Gavasakar earned his Ph.D. from CMU in 1984 under Jay Kadane. The title of his thesis was "A Study of Elicitation Procedures by Modeling the Errors in Responses". He took a job at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, but died in a tragic accident a few years later. The memorial fund and award was instituted by his uncle, V.P. Godambe, and it continues to be funded by generous contributions of CMU alumni.
Education
Gordon Weinberg Teaching Excellence Award
This student award honors exceptional teaching contributions by current Statistics & Data Science students at CMU. Named in recognition of Gordon Weinberg’s decades of dedicated instruction and mentorship, the award recognizes student instructors and teaching assistants who demonstrate a strong dedication to student learning. Funded through generous contributions from alumni and friends of the department, this award reflects our commitment to fostering outstanding teaching across all of our programs.
Conference Travel
Mihaela Serban Memorial Endowment
Mihaela Serban was born October 26, 1972 and came to the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University from Romania in 2002, a year after her sister Nicoleta arrived. She earned a Master’s degree in 2003 and a Ph.D. in 2007 under the supervision of John Lehoczky on “Derivative Pricing under Multivariate Stochastic Volatility Models with Application to Equity Options” after which she joined Morgan Stanley. In 2010, she married Arjunan Rajeswaran, a 2007 Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Soon after, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Supported by her sister and husband, she battled cancer for more than nine months, trying to lead a personally gratifying life and a fruitful career in applied statistics. Sadly, she passed away on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011. Her family established the Mihaela Serban Memorial Endowment in her memory to support graduate students in statistics & data science.
Stat & DS Sports Analytics Student Award
Generously funded by the Richardson Matano Family
This award is designed to support students pursuing a career in the field of sports analytics by helping to cover the costs associated with attending academic or industry conferences in that field. The award aims to promote professional development, encourage the presentation of original research, and facilitate connections with scholars and practitioners in sports analytics.
By helping to ease the financial burden of travel, this award enables students to engage more fully with the broader sports analytics community and stay at the forefront of emerging trends and innovations.