Columbia university statistics

Abstract

While statistical research at Columbia predates the 1930s, the statistics department was officially formed in 1946. Since then, the department has ebbed and flowed, and its very existence was sometimes threatened. Throughout, faculty and graduates from Columbia have made important contributions to the discipline, often through innovative interdisciplinary research motivated by real world problems. That tradition continues to this day, with researchers working on problems in a variety of areas, especially problems generated by the need to make sense of large, noisy data sets. Currently, the department has 20 faculty members, 40 Ph.D. students, several sizeable masters-level programs, a thriving undergraduate program, and is still growing.