This is my first letter to Liaison as SSC president. I was thinking a lot about what I should write. I joined the SSC executive committee a year ago. I was also the president of the SSC probability section in the past. I wasn’t involved in the management of the SSC except in organizing/participating in invited sessions or workshops. I always thought I didn’t have the skills to handle a leadership role, and I always admired those serving our community! I do believe that everyone can help the community in their way.
Since I joined the SSC executive committee, my admiration and gratitude for our community have become even more significant. I was impressed by how much our community gives on their time or family time to advance our discipline. In our society, everyone belongs! Everyone who falls under the umbrella of Statistics/Biostatistics or any other related area belongs! It is time to bring all our forces together and learn from each other to advance science and mentorship. Collaboration is the key to success!
As I write this article in these (post) pandemic times, I am thinking about early career researchers. I do believe that it was very challenging for them working during this period. Please, take the time to encourage/support them and check on them! ECRs are our future, and we need to take care of them! It is also the Discovery grant season; if you are an ECR and need help, please reach out!
My mandate as president began July 1st this year. I am following the very outstanding Grace Yi! I almost feel sorry for you! I know stepping in her shoes won’t be easy, but I will do my best. Grace is an exceptional leader. I can only say that I am so grateful for meeting her and working with her. Thank you, Grace, for being our president and for every service you have done and continue to do to our community.
To continue this tribute, I want to thank so many admirable people, starting with Shirley Mills, who has been for 12 years Executive Director (ED) of the SSC! Yes, 12 years of volunteering work for this strategic position. Executive Director is very demanding, and we must be grateful to have Shirley as ED for all these years. We cannot thank Shirley enough for having done all this work! You have no idea how we all rely on her. The list of essential people is long, and I might forget many names! Sorry for that in advance! I think the SSC is very fortunate to have Henrik Stryhn as the new Executive Secretary; Henrik is a fascinating person. I rarely met someone so well organized, so he and I make a very good team on average! I feel privileged to work with him. Of course, I want to thank Angelo Canty and Patrick Brown for their excellent day-to-day work handling issues for the website and the finance. I can’t thank you enough! I also want to thank Nadia Ghazali for her fantastic job as a meeting coordinator. Having met Rhonda Rosychuk and worked with her, I am sure she will do an outstanding job as Public Relations Officer! I would also like to thank Adam Kashlak, who agreed to continue his excellent work as Editor of Liaison.
Also, as of September 19, Clayton Forrest is the new administrative assistant at the SSC office, replacing Marie-Pierre Nantel. We are happy to have found such a competent person for this position. I want to thank Shirley Mills, Angelo Canty and Patrick Brown for their work on the hiring committee for this position. Over the years, the SSC has counted a lot on volunteers to help run the SSC. Still, the SSC has grown a lot, and we must face new challenges, such as hiring a new Executive Director. We should all consider a sustainable way to support our community and volunteers.
Under Grace’s leadership, we started celebrating the 50th anniversary of the SSC with several activities, including a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Statistics that will appear as number 4 of Volume 50! For more information about the SSC 2022, and CSSC 2022, please read Grace’s article in June 2022.
The Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) was held in person in Washington from August 6–11. Thanks to Debbie Dupuis, who acted as the SSC representative on the program committee, the SSC sponsored four invited sessions. Many SSC members attended the JSM, and the SSC reception attracted about 50 people. One of the conference's highlights was the COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award, and Lectureship awarded to Nancy Reid, a greatly deserved honour. I also thank the session organizers and the following SSC members who volunteered to manage the SSC booth: Tessema Astatkie, Rhonda Rosychuk, Wendy Lou, Joan Hu, Lisa Lix, Janie Coulombe, Mireille Schnitzer, Robert Platt, Kuan Liu, Michael Lalancette, and Bouchra Nasri.
I want to welcome the new elected Executive members, Shirley Mills (President-Elect) and Rhonda Rosychuk (Public Relations Officer), as well as the newly elected regional representatives: Tessema Astatkie, Celia Greenwood, Mireille Schnitzer, Tony Panzarella, Zilin Wang, Mahmoud Torabi, and Bei Jiang. Thank you to the departing board members Michael McIsaac, Paramita Saha Chaudhuri, Cody Hyndman, Edward Chen, Zeny Feng, Yang Zhao, Linglong Kong, and Dave Campbell. Your contributions to the SSC are appreciated. Finally, I would like to thank the new committee chairs and committee members, as well as the departing committee members, for their availability and enthusiasm in serving the SSC.
Finally, I would like to mention that 2023 will be an exciting year for the statistical community in Canada. The ISI meeting will be held in Ottawa from July 16 to 20, the JSM will be held in Toronto (Derek Bingham has been appointed as the SSC representative to the Program Committee), and the SSC Annual Meeting will be held from May 28-31, 2023, at my alma mater, Carleton University in Ottawa. Shirley Mills of Carleton University is the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee, and Sévérien Nkurunziza, University of Windsor, is the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee. Please add these dates to your agenda.
Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to read my article. If I forgot something or you have suggestions for improving our services at the SSC, please do not hesitate to email me!
Bruno Remillard
HEC Montreal