Committees

CSAS 2027 committees lead the scientific program, student training, data challenge and poster competitions, event operations, fundraising, and outreach. Committee membership and roles follow the current proposal.

Organizing Committee

  • Brian Macdonald (co-chair), Senior Lecturer and Research Scientist, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University
  • Jun Yan (co-chair), Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut
  • Sean Ahmed, Principal Quantitative Analyst, Detroit Tigers
  • James Hyman, Basketball and Business Intelligence Analyst, Connecticut Sun
  • Gregory J. Matthews, Associate Professor of Statistics, Loyola University Chicago
  • Josh Orenstein, Senior Data Scientist, National Basketball Association
  • Lauren Poe, Sports Analytics Engineer, ESPN

The organizing committee coordinates the venue, event logistics, accessibility arrangements, announcements, and overall meeting delivery.

Program Committee

  • Gregory J. Matthews (chair), Associate Professor of Statistics, Loyola University Chicago
  • Julie Burland, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut
  • Robert Huggins, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut
  • Quang Nguyen, Ph.D. student, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Carnegie Mellon University

The program committee develops the scientific agenda, solicits and reviews presentations, and coordinates the session schedule.

Data Challenge Steering Committee

The steering committee oversees challenge data access, competition rules, submission requirements, and judging. Challenge judges will be recruited separately through an open call, targeting primarily professors who teach statistics or data science and practitioners with relevant industry connections. Judges will review submissions virtually in mid-to-late January 2027.

Poster Committee

The poster committee coordinates the student poster session, abstract review, and poster competition. Poster judges will be recruited from event registrants and will judge on site during the April 9–10 meeting. They will use a shared rubric informed by motivation, innovation, execution, and contribution, with attention to validation, reproducibility, uncertainty, and data-use compliance. Poster judges are separate from the data challenge judges.

Workshop Committee

  • Jun Yan (chair), Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut
  • Lucy Liu, undergraduate student, University of Connecticut; president of the UConn Joint Statistics Club
  • Rishabh Nair, undergraduate student, University of Connecticut; president of the UConn Data Science Club

The workshop committee issues the student workshop call, reviews proposals, selects leaders, and coordinates faculty or organizer mentors. The UConn Data Science Club will help design the workshop application and screening process.

Fundraising Committee

The fundraising committee coordinates sponsor outreach and identifies potential financial or in-kind support for the meeting.

Student Volunteer Committee

  • Rishabh Nair (chair), undergraduate student, University of Connecticut; president of the UConn Data Science Club
  • Lucy Liu (co-chair), president of the UConn Joint Statistics Club

Student volunteers support each annual meeting. The committee recruits, schedules, and supports volunteers, who staff the registration desk, assist with audio and video connections, take event photographs under applicable campus and participant-consent guidance, help set up posters, and provide other on-site support. The committee also promotes CSAS through student organizations and campus networks.

Web Support

  • Tyler Adams, undergraduate student, Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut

Web support maintains the event website and posts registration information, announcements, program updates, and permitted resources.