Organization
The International Prize in Statistics Foundation is the governing body for the prize. Its members include an appointed representative from each of the five founding societies:
- American Statistical Association
- International Biometric Society
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- International Statistical Institute
- Royal Statistical Society
Additional members of the foundation are the secretary and treasurer.
Members of the organizing committee, appointed by the members of the foundation, are charged with identifying and appointing people to serve as members of the selection committee. This responsibility includes ensuring the selection committee membership is:
Sufficiently broad to evaluate a wide spectrum of statistical contributions
Sufficiently diverse to ensure the prize is viewed as global and equitable
Free from conflict of interest so the prize selection process is fair and not subject to external influences
The members of the organizing committee are Michele Guindani (2027), Nandini Kannan (2025), Thomas Lumley (2025), Brendan Murphy (2027), Louise Ryan (2025), Alexandra Schmidt (2027), and David van Dyk (2027).
Members of the selection committee are responsible for selecting the recipient(s) of the prize each year. Essential to this responsibility is the obligation to ensure the selection process is:
Fair
Free from external influence
As transparent as possible
Included in the committee’s responsibility is ensuring a large and high-quality set of nominations is available for consideration.
The members of the selection committee are Yoav Benjamini (through 2023), Francisco Cribari-Neto (2023), Kerrie Mengersen (2025), Rahul Mukerjee (2025), Sonia Petrone (2023), Sylvia Richardson (chair) (2023), and Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen (2025).
Foundation members are:
- Peter McCullagh, The University of Chicago (IMS), (2022–2025)
- Karen Bandeen-Roche, Johns Hopkins University (IBS), (2022–2025)
- Gareth Roberts, University of Warwick (RSS), (2024–2027)
- Victor Perez Abreu, CIMAT (ASA), (2024–2027)
- Jessica Utts, UC-Irvine (retired) (ISI), (2024–2027)
- Ron Wasserstein, American Statistical Association, (2022–2025) (director)
Governing Documents
Constitution for the International Prize in Statistics Foundation (November 22, 2015)
Article I - Name
The name of this organization is the International Prize in Statistics Foundation (“The Foundation”).
Article II - Purpose
The Foundation exists to maintain the existence and the integrity of the International Prize in Statistics.
Article III - Membership
The members of the Foundation are the representatives appointed from sponsoring societies (“the societal members”) according to the By-Laws, plus the Secretary and the Treasurer. The sponsoring societies are the American Statistical Association, the International Statistical Institute, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the International Biometric Society, the Royal Statistical Society, and any other professional statistical society named according to the By-Laws of the Foundation.
Other than the appointment of the societal members, sponsoring societies have no role in the governance of the Foundation.
Article IV - Officers
The officers of the Foundation are the Chairperson, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.
Article V - Selection of Officers
The Chairperson shall be elected annually by the members from among the societal members. The Secretary and the Treasurer are appointed by the members and are voting members of the Foundation. The Secretary and Treasurer shall not be currently serving as a societal member or have served as a societal member in the four years preceding the start of the term as Secretary or Treasurer. The Secretary must be a member of at least one of the sponsoring societies.
Article VI - Terms of Office
The societal members serve four-year terms and may not be reappointed until after an absence from the Foundation of at least four years. The Secretary and the Treasurer are appointed by the societal members for a term of four years but may be reappointed. Terms begin September 1 and end August 31.
Article VII - Committees
The committees of the Foundation shall be those committees established by members of the Foundation to meet the purpose of the Foundation.
There shall be two standing committees of the Foundation. The Organizing Committee, which shall be appointed by the members, is responsible for appointing the members of the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee will be responsible for reviewing candidates for the International Prize in Statistics and selecting the recipient. Members of the Foundation may not serve as members of these committees.
Article VIII - Meetings and Voting
The Foundation will meet as needed to fulfill the responsibilities of the Foundation. Sponsoring societies will be notified of Foundation meetings according to procedures specified in the By-Laws.
Decisions of the Foundation are made by a majority of those voting. In the case of a tie vote, the chair has the casting vote.
For voting purposes, a quorum is at least two-thirds of the members of the Foundation.
The Foundation will establish rules regarding voting procedures, including but not limited to voting by members who are not present at meetings.
Article IX - Constitutional Amendments
Amendments to this Constitution can be proposed by any member of the Foundation with at least 45 days advance notice prior to a vote on the amendment. Amendment proposals must be provided to all members in writing. At least-three fourths of the members must approve to pass an amendment.
If an amendment is being considered, the president (or similar official) of each of the sponsoring societies must be notified of the amendment at least 30 days prior to the vote on the amendment.
Article X - Dissolution
The Foundation may be dissolved only if at least four-fifths of the sponsoring societies vote to dissolve it.
By-Laws for the International Prize in Statistics Foundation (“The Foundation”) (November 22, 2015)
Article I - Primary Responsibilities of the Foundation
The Foundation is ultimately responsible for all aspects of the administration of the International Prize in Statistics (“the Prize”). This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, publicizing the Prize, soliciting nominations, announcing the recipient of the Prize at an appropriate venue, and managing the funds associated with the Prize. A singular responsibility of the Foundation is to provide direction regarding the nature of the Prize, ensuring to the greatest extent possible that a wide variety of types of statistical contributions may be recognized by the Prize.
Article II - The Prize
1. Nature of the Prize
The Prize is for contributions in statistics, which the Foundation describes as “the science of learning from data and of measuring, controlling, and communicating uncertainty.” The Prize shall be awarded for a single work or body of work, rather than for more diffuse reasons such as ‘lifetime achievement.’ Not only should powerful and original ideas be recognized by the Prize, but also contributions that lead to breakthroughs in other disciplines or works with important practical effects in the world.
Generally, the Prize will be awarded to individuals, but in some cases, groups of individuals working on similar ideas—or even teams of individuals or organizations—could be recognized.
2. Announcement and Presentation of the Prize
The Prize shall be awarded at a major international meeting of statisticians and supported by ceremonies and intellectual activities that will enhance the visibility of the award event. Each year’s award shall be communicated to the public in a way that will enhance public understanding of the depth and scope of statistical science and its impact on modern life.
3. Role of the Foundation and Committees in the Prize
The Foundation shall have no involvement in the selection of the Prize recipient.
The Foundation is responsible for selecting the members of the Organizing Committee. The sole responsibility of the Organizing Committee is to appoint the members of the Selection Committee. This responsibility includes ensuring that the Selection Committee membership is sufficiently broad that it can evaluate a wide spectrum of statistical contributions, sufficiently diverse to ensure the Prize is viewed as global and impartial, and free of conflict of interest so that the Prize selection process is fair and not subject to external influences.
The ultimate responsibility of the Selection Committee is to select the recipient of the Prize. Essential to this responsibility is the obligation to ensure that the selection process is fair, free from external influence, and as transparent as possible. Included in the Committee’s responsibility is ensuring that a large and high-quality set of nominations is available for consideration.
The decision of the Selection Committee will be final. However, the Foundation shall provide general guidance to the Selection Committee, not related to any possible nominee or to any specific year’s prize, to help encourage breadth in recognizing, over time, a wide range of contributions to statistical theory and practice, fairness in avoiding even the appearance of conflicts of interest, and geographic balance of the selection process, making the Prize truly international in scope.
Current members of the Foundation may not serve on either the Organizing Committee or the Selection Committee.
Current members of the Organizing Committee may not serve on the Selection Committee.
Members of the Foundation, the Organizing Committee, or the Selection Committee are not eligible to receive the Prize during their term on these respective bodies and for the two years immediately following the completion of their term.
4. Conflict of interest
The Foundation shall maintain and publicize a conflict of interest policy that will pertain to members of the Foundation and its committees. The Foundation shall have the final say in regards to matters of conflict of interest.
Article III - Membership of the Foundation
1. Founding set of sponsoring societies
Five societies shall form the initial set of sponsoring societies: the American Statistical Association, the International Statistical Institute, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the International Biometric Society, and the Royal Statistical Society.
The founding societies each appoint one member from their respective societies to serve as members of the Foundation.
2. Role of the Sponsoring Societies
Members appointed by the sponsoring societies are called “societal members.” Though members of the Foundation are appointed by these societies, and serve to communicate the interests and concerns of those societies, their foremost responsibility is to the Foundation. Sponsoring societies are expected to avoid even the appearance of influencing the outcome of the Prize selection process.
3. Additional sponsoring societies
Other statistical societies not included in Section 1 of this article may petition to be included as sponsoring societies. The petition and selection process will be determined by the Foundation in a manner that will be inclusive of sufficiently large and well-established statistical societies with broad and open memberships. The specific requirements for such societies will be determined by the Foundation and made clearly and publicly available.
The total number of societal members shall not exceed 11. The six additional seats beyond those assigned to the founding societies will be filled by appointments from the additional sponsoring societies, with appointments being made on a rotational basis once the number of additional sponsoring societies exceeds six.
4. Removal of a Sponsoring Society
A sponsoring society can withdraw its sponsorship by giving six months’ notice to the Foundation.
A sponsoring society can be withdrawn for the reason of lack of participation in the Foundation with at least six months’ notice if such withdrawal is approved by at least three-fourths of the other sponsoring societies. “Lack of participation” refers to a society not being involved in the governance of the Foundation, either through ongoing failure to appoint a member or consistent failure of the society’s appointed member to meet the obligations of Foundation membership. In the latter case, sponsoring societies have the right to replace their appointed member.
5. Members of the Foundation
The members of the Foundation are the societal members, plus the Secretary and the Treasurer.
6. Terms of Membership.
Societal members serve four-year terms. Terms shall be staggered to ensure continuity of the Foundation. Terms begin September 1 and end August 31.
As additional sponsoring societies are added, the term of the initial appointee from that society will be determined to maintain the balance of term expiration dates.
Article IV - Officers
1. The Chairperson
The Chairperson shall be elected every two years by the members of the Foundation from among the societal members. The Chairperson is the chief executive officer of the association and shall convene and chair the meetings of the Foundation. The Chairperson and the Secretary shall serve as the spokespersons for the Foundation.
2. The Secretary
The Secretary is appointed by the societal members of the Foundation for a term of four years and must be a member of one of the sponsoring societies. The appointment is renewable.
The Secretary serves as corporate secretary for the Foundation and serves as the chief operating officer of the Foundation.
3. The Treasurer
The Treasurer is appointed by the societal members of the Foundation for a term of four years. The appointment is renewable.
The Treasurer serves as the chief financial officer for the organization.
4. Qualifications of the Secretary and the Treasurer
It is the responsibility of the societal members of the Foundation to appoint individuals to serve as Secretary or as Treasurer who have sufficient qualifications and experience for their roles. As a spokesperson for the Foundation, the Secretary shall be a statistician (broadly defined), but the Treasurer does not need to be a statistician. The Treasurer should, however, have appropriate qualifications to manage the financial affairs of the Foundation.
5. Voting membership
All members of the Foundation are voting members.
6. Compensation
Officers and all other members of the Foundation are unpaid volunteers.
Article V - Committees
1. Organizing Committee
The seven members of the Organizing Committee are appointed by the members of the Foundation to serve four-year terms and may not be reappointed without at least a four-year absence from the committee. The chair of the Organizing Committee shall be appointed by the members of the Foundation from among the members of the Organizing Committee and will serve a term of two years. The chair may not be reappointed. Appointment as chair of the committee may extend the individual’s term on the committee as needed to complete the appointed term as chair.
Members of the Organizing Committee should be distinguished statistical scientists with broad interests and clear international visibility. They do not have to be members of any of the sponsoring societies.
2. Selection Committee
The seven members of the Selection Committee are appointed by the members of the Organizing Committee to serve four-year terms and may not be reappointed without at least a four-year absence from the committee. The chair of the Selection Committee shall be appointed by the Organizing Committee from among the members of the Selection Committee and will serve a term of two years. The chair may not be reappointed. Appointment as chair of the committee may extend the individual’s term on the committee as needed to complete the appointed term as chair.
Members of the Selection Committee should be outstanding scientists with important contributions to the statistical sciences. They do not have to be members of any of the sponsoring societies.
The membership of the Selection Committee will be made publicly available.
3. Other committees
Other committees of the Foundation may be created from time to time by members of the Foundation to meet the purpose of the Foundation. Committee members do not have to be members of the Foundation.
4. Voting
Decisions made by committees will be by majority vote. In the event of a tie, the chair has the casting vote.
Article VI - Meetings
1. Number and type of meetings
The Foundation will meet as needed to fulfill the responsibilities of the Foundation. Conference calls, web-based meetings, or other forms of synchronous meetings are considered the same as face-to-face meetings for the purposes of these By-Laws.
2. Closed meetings
Meetings of the Foundation are closed unless otherwise specified by the Foundation.
3. Notification of meetings
Sponsoring societies will be notified of all Foundation meetings at least 14 days prior to such meetings.
Article VII - Place of business
The Foundation will establish a legal place of business according to the needs and best interests of the International Prize in Statistics.
Article VIII - Official language
Meetings of the Foundation, including its committees, will be conducted in English. Nominations for the Prize in other languages may be accepted at the discretion of the Selection Committee, depending on its ability to obtain sufficiently accurate translation of the nomination information.
Article IX - Amendments
Amendments to these By-Laws can be proposed by any member of the Foundation with at least 45 days advance notice prior to a vote on the amendment. Amendment proposals must be provided to all members in writing. At least two-thirds of the members must approve in order to pass an amendment.
If an amendment is being considered, the president (or similar official) of each of the sponsoring societies must be notified of the amendment at least 30 days prior to the vote on the amendment.