Gus Hart, dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, appointed Dr. Scott D. Grimshaw as chair of the Department of Statistics. On July 1, Dr. Grimshaw replaced Dr. William Christensen, who has served as department chair since 2017.
“Dr. Grimshaw is a passionate instructor and an accomplished statistician,” said Gus Hart, Dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. “We are grateful to have his leadership in this time of growth and change in the Department of Statistics.”
In his research, Dr. Grimshaw derives statistical methods for big data in manufacturing, entertainment, and financial markets. His student mentored research have included data science projects in the entertainment value of sports, causes of grade inflation, election outcome prediction, and monitoring complex manufacturing processes. He received the Wilcoxon Prize and Texas A&M’s Hartley Award.
“This is an exciting time for the Department of Statistics,” said Dr. Grimshaw. “We have the 7th largest undergraduate statistics program, the fastest growing major on campus, and our data science students are in high demand. Our faculty are internationally recognized in their research specializations and provide mentoring experiences unheard of in our discipline. As chair I hope to respond to the rapid growth by looking for opportunities in teaching and mentoring that scale without losing the learning environment fondly remembered by thousands of alumni.”
Dr. Grimshaw has degrees from Southern Utah and Texas A&M. Before coming to BYU he was a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Smith School of Business. Dr. Grimshaw has been actively involved in the BYU community. He has served at BYU Broadcasting, Washington Seminar, and on the Faculty Advisory and Academic Unit Review Committees. He was previously the Statistics Associate Chair and Graduate Coordinator.