We are delighted to announce that Ron Wasserstein will give the Campion (President’s Invited) Lecture at the 2026 RSS International Conference in Bournemouth next September.
Since 2007, Ron has served as Executive Director of the American Statistical Association. As the society’s chief executive officer, he is responsible for a staff of 32 people who collaborate with the ASA’s members and the broader community, including the RSS, to promote the practice and profession of statistics.
Wasserstein earned his PhD in statistics from Kansas State University. He was a member of the mathematics and statistics faculty at Washburn University from 1984-2007. Over the course of the last seven years of his tenure at Washburn, he served as the university’s vice president for academic affairs. He is an active advocate for the statistics profession. Currently, he and his team have focused on supporting the US federal statistical system as well as urging the US government to support broad funding for basic and applied research.
His research interest over the past decade has focused on the concept of statistical significance. He and others have called for the community to move to 'a world beyond p<0.05.' In his lecture, he will argue that this artificial boundary warps research incentives, publication practices, and ultimately scientific progress itself. In doing so, he promises to 'entertain rather than to depress you.'
The conference will take place September 7-10, 2026. For more information, visit the
event website.