July 30, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health is seeking applicants for the William "Student" Seally Gosset Endowed Professorship in Biostatistics.

The new professorship in the School of Public Health's Department of Biostatistics is made possible in part by a gift from Pfizer, Inc. It honors the many contributions by the school's faculty to improved statistical methods in leading-edge research projects for public health, medicine, nutrition and many other fields.

UAB's Department of Biostatistics is a world leader in the field of statistical genetics, understanding the causes of the excess stroke mortality, clinical-trial design and many other areas of statistical analysis.

Applications for the endowed professor should be sent to: David B. Allison, Ph.D., UAB Department of Biostatistics, RPHB 327, 1665 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL  35294-0022, or by e-mail to dallison@uab.edu. Candidates ideally will have a doctoral degree, a background in statistical genetics and embody humility and generosity of spirit in equal measure with incisive scholarship that characterizes the position's historic title.

The endowed professorship is named for William Sealy Gosset, a 20th Century British statistician who, for proprietary reasons, wrote academic manuscripts under the pen name "Student." Gossett's most famous article, "The Probable Error of a Mean," was published in 1908 and led to what is now called the 't distribution,' a fundamental calculation in small-sample statistics.

About the UAB School of Public Health

The School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in the different arenas of public health, all with the goal of fostering research, discovery and best-practices crucial to the health of our nation. The school offers more than 20 areas of study, and manages dozens of research and community-service centers.