Pengfei Li and Ruodu Wang of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at University of Waterloo have been named Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS).

Dr. Li received the award for ground-breaking and pioneering research contributions to the EM-test for the order of finite mixture models; for original and creative methodological developments in the areas of the empirical likelihood, density ratio models, statistical genetics, and non-probability sampling; for exceptional research productivity; and for excellence in statistical education.

Dr. Wang received the award for significant contributions to statistics and applied probability in operations research, risk management, and actuarial science; and for highly influential interdisciplinary research bridging statistics and probability.

Founded in 1935, the IMS is one of the world’s premier societies in statistics and probability. Each fellow nominee is assessed by a committee of their peers and the election is based on “demonstrated distinction in research in statistics or probability, by publication of independent work of merit.” This qualification may be partly or wholly waived in the case of either a candidate of well-established leadership whose contribution to the field of statistics or probability other than original research shall be judged of equal value; or a candidate of well-established leadership in the application of statistics or probability, whose work has contributed greatly to the utility of and the appreciation of these areas.

The list of the 2022 class of IMS Fellows can be found at the IMS website.