You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Hirst earns prestigious stats award

By David Gonnerman '90
April 29, 2008

St. Olaf student Brianna Hirst '08 is one of two students in the nation to receive this year's prestigious Gertrude M. Cox Award from the American Statistical Association .

HirstBrianna08lg
Last fall St. Olaf student Brianna Hirst '08 had the unique experience of traveling to Switzerland to help present the results of a research project on foodborne disease to a World Health Organization research group.
"Brianna warned me when she first took one of my classes that she likes to ask a lot of questions," says Associate Professor of Statistics Julie Legler, herself a past recipient of the award. "This trait has served her well." Last fall, for example, Hirst had the unique experience of traveling to Switzerland to help present the results of a research project on foodborne disease to a World Health Organization research group. And Hirst excels at computing, adds Legler -- "a valuable skill in the world of statistics."

"Gertrude Cox is a role model for any woman in science," says Hirst. "She was active in promoting scientific education and in establishing statistical programs for all people." Although participation by women in the sciences has increased since Cox's time, explains Hirst, men still dominate the statistics field.

In the fall Hirst plans to enter a Ph.D. program in statistics at the University of California-Berkeley (where Cox also studied for a time). Four out of the 15 accepted applicants in Hirst's program are women.

Contact David Gonnerman '90 at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.