The Department of Statistics is pleased to welcome Drs. Ting Fung Ma, David Weaver, and James Bird as new faculty members.
Dr. Ting Fung Ma joined the Department of Statistics as Assistant Professor in Fall 2022. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics with a minor in Computer Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2022 under the supervision of Jun Zhu. His research interests include the development of novel and scalable methodologies for data with complex dependence and big volume, such as spatial data, spatio-temporal data, and correlated categorical data.
Dr. David Weaver joined the Department of Statistics as Instructor in Fall 2022. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University and a Masters in Statistical Science from George Mason University. David received his undergraduate degree from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Prior to arriving at the University of South Carolina in the Fall of 2022, David served in the federal government for several years at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). He was the Associate Commissioner for Research, Demonstration, and Employment Support at SSA and the Director for Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis at CBO. His research focuses on government programs, health outcomes, income, and poverty.
Dr. James Bird joined the Department of Statistics as Instructor in Fall 2022. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of California Santa Barbara. Prior to his doctoral work, he also earned an M.S. in Statistics, an M.A. in Applied Physics/Applied Mathematics, and a B.A. in Mathematics. His research involves the implementation of artificial intelligence for deep space travel. James has also been a Statistician with Gallup since 2015.
Eight new graduate students also joined the Department this semester. Currently, the Department of Statistics has 12 tenured/tenure-track faculty, 8 instructors, 4 part-time instructor, 2 staff members, and 35 graduate students (28 Ph.D. students and 7 M.S. students).