In 2014, the American Statistical Association is celebrating its 175th anniversary. Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight aspects of that celebration, and look broadly at the ASA and its activities. Please contact ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) if you would like to post an entry to this blog.
Why celebrate our 175th anniversary?
Milestones of many kinds are important to us, and cause us to reflect on where we are on a journey, where we’ve been, and where we hope to go. Anniversaries evenly divisible by 10 are often given special importance, and those divisible evenly by 25 even more so. A 175th anniversary is so relatively rare that it is even difficult to decide what to call it. I’m told “dodransbicentennial” is appropriate, derived from Latin that apparently means “a quarter century less than a bicentennial.” Not being Latin scholars, we’re happy just referring to it as “the 175th anniversary!”
The theme we have chosen for this special anniversary is “Celebrate our past, energize our future.” It is wonderful to remind ourselves of the long and rich history of our association, and to remind ourselves of the choices and sacrifices others have made in order to bring us to this milestone. But it is equally important to make choices now that help ensure that the 200th anniversary (and the 225th, and so on) are prosperous milestones as well.
Throughout 2014, we’ll be reporting to you about matters related to the 175th anniversary through this blog, through the 175 column in Amstat News, and by other means. A distinguished and hard-working group of volunteers has been leading this effort. Christy Chuang-Stein is chair of the Steering Committee, which began its work in early fall, 2011. Other members include Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan, Marcus Berzofsky, Amy Herring, Fred Hulting, John McKenzie, Dionne Price, and Steve Stigler.
We invite you also to visit the 175th anniversary web page, which can be reached by clicking on the 175th anniversary logo that appears at the top of the ASA home page, or by going directly to http://www.amstat.org/asa175/.
Stay tuned to this blog and these other news sources for information about ASA activities during 2014, and about how you can get involved. If you already have ideas, or if you have questions, write me (ron@amstat.org) or Christy. Thanks! Happy 175th, everyone!