Welcome

This is the Department of Statistics at Stanford University.

Statistics has been taught at Stanford since 1924 when Harold Hotelling joined the university. The program became a full department at Stanford in 1948 under the direction of Albert Bowker, and we moved into the new custom-designed Sequoia Hall in February of 1998, our 50th anniversary. During this time the department has evolved into a preeminent center for statistical research, top-ranked in the United States, with our doctoral program ranked number one by the US National Research Council.

The Statistics Department's goal is research and student training in statistics, both theory and applications, and in probability. Throughout its long history our department has been very active in the development of these subjects, which advance other fields in the sciences, medicine, engineering and education. Our departmental seminars have touched on biology, chemistry, sociology, particle physics, machine learning,... and ranged through image analysis, 3D mapping, data denoising, online markets, social network experiments, student teaching evaluations, and the study of modern slavery. Why should a method like regression apply to economics as well as astronomy, to geology as well as genetics? But it does, much to the benefit of all. And journalists who can write clearly about statistical topics — in crucial issues like environmental policy, terrorism, health care — are prime allies in the war against ignorance.

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