The Statistical Society of Canada today announced that Dr. Jean-François Quessy has been awarded the Robillard Prize for 2006.  The Robillard Prize is awarded annually by the Society to the doctoral student defending the best thesis in the previous year. 

Dr. Quessy’s thesis, awarded by Laval University is titled “Méthodologie et application des copules: tests d'adéquation, tests d'indépendance, et bornes pour la valeur-à-risque.” and was jointly supervised by Professors Christian Genest and Bruno Rémillard. 

Dr Quessy received his B.Sc. from l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières where he is currently Professeur au Département de mathématiques et d'informatique. He plans to continue his study of stochastic dependence and hopes to make contributions to the understanding of important phenomenon such as climate change. He said  “I also wish to become a good teacher, and ultimately be an inspiration for my students just like Bruno and Christian were for me.”

The criteria used in the assessment include the originality of the ideas and techniques,  the possible applications and their treatment and the potential impact on the statistical sciences. The prize is awarded in memory of Professor Pierre Robillard, an outstanding statistician at the Université de Montréal who was tragically killed at an early age.