Jim zumBrunnen has provided statistical expertise to CSU researchers for more than four decades. Retiring this year, the longtime Department of Statistics staff member is establishing an award to support outstanding statistics students for years to come.
Until his retirement, zumBrunnen was associate director of the Franklin A. Graybill Statistics Laboratory (affectionately called “Stat Lab”), which provides general statistical consulting to researchers all over the university.
Stat Lab
The Stat Lab conducts approximately 1,000 consulting sessions per year, with advice ranging from the planning and design of experiments to complicated statistical analyses and interpretation of statistical results. Project disciplines range from agriculture to zoology, with clients coming from more than 40 university departments annually.
ZumBrunnen established the award in appreciation for the 41 years that undergraduate and graduate students in the department have worked with him in these consultations and collaborations.
“I expect that the award, which will be given annually, will help encourage a statistics student to continue to provide statistical collaboration to researchers in other disciplines,” zumBrunnen said.
“The department is very grateful and honored by this generous gift established by Jim and Jo zumBrunnen,” said Jean Opsomer, chair of the Department of Statistics. “To students in the department, the new award highlights the crucial role of statistical consulting in fostering research excellence across campus.”
Recognizing outstanding statistics students
The James R. zumBrunnen Statistical Collaboration Award will recognize an outstanding student who has made “significant contribution through collaboration with CSU researchers.” Recipients can range from undergraduate to Ph.D. students in statistics, and they must demonstrate aptitude for statistics collaborations with other disciplines.
A retirement reception for zumBrunnen will be held Jan. 21 from 4-6:30 p.m. in the Grey Rock Room, Lory Student Center. RSVP to Katy Koehler at Koehler@stat.colostate.edu. In lieu of gifts, a donation to the James R. zumBrunnen Statistical Collaboration Award would be appreciated.
