Rebecca Doerge, Glen de Vries Dean, Mellon College of Science
Rebecca Doerge is the Glen de Vries dean of the Mellon College of Science and a member of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences' Department of Statistics and the Mellon College of Science’s Department of Biological Sciences. Dean Doerge's research program focuses on statistical bioinformatics, an interdisciplinary component of bioinformatics that brings together many scientific disciplines for the purpose of asking, answering and disseminating biologically interesting information in the quest to understand the ultimate function of DNA and epigenomic associations. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon in 2016, Dean Doerge was the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Statistics at Purdue University.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
"Thank You for Being Late" by Thomas Friedman.
What’s the last great book you read?
"The Drama of Leadership" by Patricia Pitcher.
What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?
"A Mathematician's Apology" by G. H. Hardy.
Which genres do you especially enjoy reading? And which do you avoid? I find myself reading a lot of professional development books. I learn something about myself and others; and it helps me deal with people and broaden my sense of community. On a different end of the literary scale, I am a fan of trilogies. Some of my favorites are the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series and the "Hunger Games" series. I don't like scary books or scary movies or anything scarier than my own life. And no autobiographies either.
What are the best books related to your topic of study?
"Computer Age Statistical Inference" by Bradley Efron and Trevor Hastie, and "Pragmatics of Uncertainties" by Joseph Kadane, which was actually given to me by Professor Kadane as a welcome gift when I arrived at Carnegie Mellon.
How do you like to read? Paper or electronic? One book at a time or simultaneously? Morning or night? I solely read books on paper, and prefer paperback copies at that, and only at night. I read one book at a time and that's my problem. I have to get past the first 50 pages.
How do you organize your books?
They are alphabetical by author's name by subject. My genetics and statistics books are organized this way in my conference room. But if I have a stack of books about, the mathematician in me breaks out and organizes them by size.
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
"The No-Asshole Rule" by Robert Sutton. It's a blunt title with an even blunter description: "The Definitive Guide to working with... Bullies, Creeps, Jerks, Tyrants, Tormentors, Despots, Backstabbers, Egomaniacs, and all other assholes..." But really, it's a straightforward read with great advice about building and maintaining a civilized workplace. I was given this book when I became head of statistics at Purdue. It sat on my desk facing me for the first year so that every meeting I had, you would be trying to read it upside down to figure out what it said. Most people are surprised it is actually a book.
Another one is a Nancy Drew book, "The Bungalow Mystery," by Carolyn Keene. Growing up, my siblings and I had all the Nancy Drew books, all the Hardy Boys books and some Nurse Nancy books. My sister, who is an antique dealer, ran across a copy of this Nancy Drew book and sent it to me at the office, and so I keep it there.
What's the best book you ever received as a gift?
I have received a couple of books with personal inscriptions to me from Jim Watson, who was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his co-discovery of the double helical structure of DNA.
What do you plan to read next?
"Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty. I've heard that the series is better than the books, but I'm someone who has to read the book first. I even asked a complete stranger on a plane who was finishing the book about it. She said she was disappointed by book, which makes me feel like maybe I should just watch the series, but I have to keep it in Rebecca's order.
