Statistics
Freshman Recruited Athletes Less Ethnically Diverse than Previous Years, Survey Reports
One major subset of the Class of 2025 — recruited athletes — is more predominantly white than in previous years, according to the results of The Crimson’s annual freshman survey.
New Econ Class Sails into Top Enrollment Rankings as Ec 10b Maintains Dominance for Sixth Year
Economics 10B: “Principles of Economics” has long reigned as spring semester's most enrolled-in class, but this year the course saw a new contender from within its own department — the brand new course Economics 1152: “Big Data," which had just 32 fewer students.
Changing the Distribution: The Transformation of Harvard’s Statistics Department
For its first 58 years, Harvard's Statistics Department did not have a single female tenured faculty member. In recent years, the tides have turned.
Harvard Kicks Off Data Science Initiative With Seminar
Harvard marked the official launch of a new Data Science Initiative Monday afternoon, kicking off a multi-year plan aimed at bringing the University to the forefront of the field.
Harvard Launches Data Science Initiative
Harvard has launched the Data Science Initiative, a University-wide program that aims to bring together data scientists in different fields.
Stats Department Expands to Accommodate Upward Trend in Concentrators
After a statistically significant growth in concentrators in recent years, several professors say Harvard’s Statistics Department is reaching its limit.
Stat Department Sees Significant Growth in Recent Years
The Statistics Department has gone from 17 concentrators in 2008 to 199 as of December 2015.
Grad Student Lecture Series Asks Audience to Think Differently
Student-nominated speakers from each of Harvard’s 12 graduate schools presented TED-talk style mini-lectures at the 6th annual “Lectures that Last,” in front of a packed 830-person Memorial Church audience Saturday evening.
Controversial Study Photographed 29 Courses in Total
Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching researchers photographed students in 29 courses during a controversial attendance study last spring, the researchers said Thursday when pressed to disclose the exact number of courses studied.
Bol Notifies Students Affected by Controversial Attendance Study
While it did not offer more information on the courses involved, Bol’s email to affected students provided details on how cameras were used in classrooms.
Stephen Blyth Named Next President and CEO of Management Company
Blyth, who is currently a managing director and head of public markets at HMC as well as a professor of statistics, will assume the role Jan. 1, 2015.
10Q: Christian T. Rudder ’97 OkCupid Co-Founder
Christian T. Rudder ’97 is not a statistician by trade, but the 39-year-old founder of OkCupid just so happens to be a pioneer in a certain branch of data analytics—the data behind love and romance.
With Big Data on the Rise, Blitzstein Boosts Stats at Harvard
Despite growing interest nationwide in statistics and “big data” over the past decade, students and faculty in the department have said that much of the new excitement for the field at Harvard is due to Blitzstein’s personal commitment to teaching and the enormous influence he has had on the undergraduate body.
Chess with Blitzstein & Elkies: The Pawn is Mightier than the Sword
Both Blitzstein and Elkies are known to be terrific chess players. Blitzstein is ranked as an “Expert” by the US Chess Federation, placing him in the 98th percentile of tournament players. Elkies is ranked even one step higher as a “Master,” and specializes in solving and composing chess problems. Both have been playing chess for as long as they can remember, but the serious mathematicians have found it difficult to find time for their favorite game at Harvard. FM asked the two to revive their passion for a quick match of speed chess.
Fall Course Enrollments, Fall 2010-2013
Ec 10a was Harvard's highest-enrolled course this semester, narrowly beating out the rising CS50.
CS50, Stat 110 See Continued Increases in Enrollment
In fall 2009, computer science lecturer David J. Malan welcomed 337 aspiring coders to his introductory computer science course CS50. Four years later, the course’s enrollment has more than doubled, closing in on—but just failing to surpass—the introductory economics course Ec 10a as Harvard’s most popular class.
Overall Satisfaction with Natural Sciences Concentrations among Class of 2012
Graduating natural sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012 rated their overall satisfaction with their respective concentrations on a scale of one to five.
Concentration Satisfaction: Class of 2012
As freshmen enter the second week of Advising Fortnight, Flyby presents a complete set of data from the Class of 2012's concentration satisfaction ratings. For all freshmen looking to narrow down the list of potential concentrations, sophomores or juniors curious about their chosen concentrations, and seniors reflecting on their undergraduate careers, here are the stats from last year's graduating seniors on how satisfied they were with their respective concentrations. Check out our four interactive graphs showing overall satisfaction rates among Humanities, Natural Sciences, SEAS, and Social Sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012.
On Wednesday night in the Science Center, a panel discusses how they incorporate statistics with their professions. Representatives from Applied Predictive Technologies, DC Energy, AlphaSimplex Group, Milliman, and Obama for America join Professor Joseph K. Blitzstein in talking about how statistics classes translate into the real world. This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: CORRECTION: April 8, 2013 An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the names of several companies that sent representatives to a panel discussing statistics in the professional world. In fact, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Getco LLC did not participate in the event, while AlphaSimplex Group, Milliman, and Obama for America did.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
With help from professors Andrew Berry, Stephen Blyth, and Steven Pinker, Fifteen Minutes celebrates Dr. Seuss's birthday and National Read Across America Day by reading an abridged version of Dr. Seuss's "Fox in Sox."
Ben Zauzmer Wins Oscars
With the Academy Awards now over, Flyby caught up with Harvard's very own Oscar guru Ben Zauzmer '15. Zauzmer, who published data predicting the Oscar wins, used available data pertaining to the nominees to predict the likelihood they would go home with an Oscar. Zauzmer tells Flyby how the math matched up to the winning movies.