Wendy Lou is the recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC). This award honours an individual who has played an important and substantial role in fostering the growth and success of the Canadian Statistical Sciences community through leadership in the SSC.

Wendy is Professor and Division Head of Biostatistics at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.  Prior to her current position, she was Associate Professor in the former Department of Biomathematical Sciences at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, affiliated with New York University at that time.  With background training in mathematics and biostatistics, her research has focused on developing statistical methodology for studying chronic conditions and quality improvement, as well as biomedical applications of the distribution theory of runs and patterns. 

Wendy has been the Principal Investigator on statistical research projects funded by NSERC, CIHR, NIH etc. from Canada and the US. She also been involved as a co-investigator in numerous interdisciplinary research projects spanning from health policy, nutritional and environmental sciences, mental health, neuroscience to large-scale cohort studies. These projects have received sizeable grant awards, and her contributions have been crucial to their successes, resulting in journal publications and opportunities for student training. Recognitions for her research accomplishments include the Canada Research Chair in Statistical Methods for Health Care, the Anthony Miller Award for Excellence in Research, the Michelle Harkness Mentorship Award for Lifetime Mentoring Achievement, and Fellowship of the American Statistical Association (ASA).

As an active member of the SSC, Wendy has made significant contributions through various roles locally and nationally over the past two decades. She has been an executive member of the Southern Ontario Regional Association (SORA) and was instrumental in creating the annual SORA workshop, now a joint event with The Applied Biostatistics Association (TABA), during her term as the SORA President (2006-2009). Before her SSC Presidency (President-Elect/President/Past-President, 2019-2022), Wendy served the Society in numerous capacities including as Ontario Regional Representative on the Board of Directors (2006-08), as a member of the Program Committee (2007-13, 2014-2017), and as an executive member of the Board of Directors (Publication Relations Officer 2008-09, Publications Officer 2009-13). She was the Program Chair for the 2009 SSC Annual Meeting, played a key role on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Inaugural Student Conference (now CSSC), and represented SSC on the JSM2016 Program Committee. Her recent activities include chairing the Election Committee and the Awards Committee, and serving on the Strategic Planning Committee. 

Wendy’s dedicated leadership during her SSC presidency was exemplary. She was involved in the difficult decision to cancel SSC2020, with a few events held virtually, and then led with tremendous efforts and determination to pivot the 2021 annual meeting to a virtual conference, despite various challenges in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first-ever SSC Virtual Annual Meeting, including an inaugural virtual social mixer, took place over five days and was a great success. To address issues affecting professional societies at the time, Wendy formed the SSC Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and advanced the establishment of the SSC Code of Conduct and the Process and Policy on Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination. Under her leadership, these documents were released in 2021 and are now part of the SSC Policies and Procedures. SSC2021 was the first SSC annual meeting requiring all attendees to adhere to an SSC Code of Conduct.

While serving the SSC, Wendy’s distinguished service extends to other statistical and academic communities. She was Secretary and Treasurer (2016-18) of the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS), and co-chaired the Scientific Program Committee for the 64th ISI World Statistics Congress (WSC2023).  Among many ASA activities, Wendy was a member of the Board of Directors (2015-17) representing the Council of Chapters (COC), chaired the Statistical Ambassadors Working Group, and served on the Committee on Women in Statistics (2020) and the Program Committee for JSM2023. She received the COC Outstanding Service Award (2014, 2022) and recently served as Chair-elect of the COC Governing Board, ASA.  Wendy has also demonstrated her commitment to advancing women in the profession through her work with the Caucus for Women in Statistics and Data Science (CWS), serving as its President (2020), and on committees, such as the International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science (IDWSDS), and the Women in Statistics and Data Science Conference (WSDS2020, 2021). During her term as CWS President, she established the CWS Societal Impact Award, given annually to a statistician or data scientist who has actively worked to advance social justice, or diversity, equity and inclusion through their research, teaching or service.  Wendy’s other professional contributions include serving on review committees for granting agencies, and as an Associate Editor for peer-reviewed journals.

Through her dedication and outstanding leadership, Wendy has made a major impact on the SSC and beyond.