Bradley Efron, the Max H. Stein Professor of Statistics and Biostatistics at Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences and the Department of Health Research and Policy with the School of Medicine, was the third distinguished lecturer in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Efron presented his talk, titled “Learning from the Experience of Others,” to a standing-room-only audience on September 23, 2010.

If you were not able to attend the lecture or would like to listen to the lecture again, Dr. Efron’s lecture can be viewed at http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/35125.

Stating that some statistical estimates are obtained by direct observation, Efron said that sometimes we learn from the experience of others. Efron used several examples, including the likelihood of having identical twins, to show how this works in practice, indicating some of the surprising theoretical ideas involved.

Started in 2008, the annual Distinguished Lecture Series brings in highly prominent speakers who have made a significant contribution to society through research areas of interest to ISyE faculty and students and to provide a forum for the students, faculty, staff, and alumni from the Georgia Tech community to interact with the distinguished lecturer. The two previous distinguished lecturers were Dr. William "Bill" Pulleyblank, vice president of the Center for Business Optimization at IBM Global Business Services, and Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Wein, professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a Philip McCord Morse Lecturer.   

For more information, visit: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/news-events/dls/.