The 2023 Biostatistics Distinguished Alumni Awardee is Dr. Michael Posner, PhD. Dr. Michael Posner is Professor of Statistics and Data Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Villanova University. He is also Director of the Center for Statistics and Data Science Education at Villanova. Dr. Posner was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2017. He graduated from our program with a PhD in 2006. Dr. Posner’s many accomplishments exemplify the core purpose of our school to “Think. Teach. Do. For the health of all”.

Think: Dr. Posner has demonstrated a strong, longstanding commitment to advancing scholarship in the field of statistics. He has conducted impactful research that spans the fields of statistics, educational research, causal inference using propensity scores, biostatistics, public health, health care research, and statistics and the law.

Teach: Dr. Posner has demonstrated excellence as a teacher for a variety of statistics courses for both undergraduate and graduate students and has received several awards for his teaching. He received Villanova’s Faculty Award for Innovative Teaching in 2010. In 2012, he received both the American Statistical Association’s Waller Education Award and the Mathematical Associations of America Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member. In 2023, Dr. Posner received the Excellence in College Teaching Award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Statistical Association.

Do: Dr. Posner has had considerable impact in the area of statistics and data science education, with many abstracts, presentations, and publications in proceedings from statistics conferences. From 2012-2017, Dr. Posner served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Statistics Education, and since 2013, he has served as the Founding Director of the Center for Statistics and Data Science Education at Villanova. Dr. Posner chaired the American Statistical Association Section on Statistics and Data Science Education in 2020. In summary, Dr. Michael Posner is an alumnus of our PhD program with outstanding accomplishments as an educator and scholar of biostatistics and data science. In addition, he has provided notable service to the profession at multiple levels.

Agenda:
11:00-11:50pm: Presentation by award recipient, followed by student led Q&A session
11:50-12:50pm: Networking reception

In-person location:
Hiebert Lounge
14th Floor Instructional Building
72 E. Concord Street
Boston, MA 02118

Click here to register for the Zoom Webinar

Michael Posner (GRS '06)

Professor of Statistics and Data Science
Director, Center for Statistics and Data Science Education

Dr. Michael Posner is a Professor of Statistics and Data Science in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Villanova University, where he has been since 2005 after completing his Ph.D. in biostatistics at Boston University. His publications and research span the fields of biostatistics, statistics and the law, analysis of observational studies, and statistics and data science education research and curricular reform. Dr. Posner was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2017 for "outstanding leadership and mentorship in statistics education, for contributions to the field of statistics education research, and for service to the profession", and has won a number of teaching awards, including ASA's 2012 Waller Education Award. He has obtained over $4 million in federal funding – his current grants include creating a family of motivational attitudes instruments toward statistics and data science and measuring the impacts of pollution in the subway system in Philadelphia. Dr. Posner is the founding Director of the Center for Statistics and Data Science Education, which provides professional development training in statistics and data science education to K-16 teachers in the Greater Philadelphia Area and training in statistical research methods to faculty at Villanova University.