The Section on Statistical Consulting within the American Statistical Association has presented Jennifer Van Mullekom, director of the Statistical Applications and Innovations Group at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, with the 2024 Outstanding Mentor Award. The annual award is given to a statistical consultant or instructor of statistical consulting who has made significant contributions to developing students and junior colleagues.
For the past eight years, Dr. Van Mullekom has overseen the Statistical Applications and Innovations Group, the internal statistical collaboration center for Virginia Tech faculty and staff. Since Dr. Van Mullekom took up her role in 2016, the center now collaborates with private, public, and nonprofit organizations in addition to university projects. The center is run by graduate statistics students, who Dr. Van Mullekom mentors through conducting research, writing collaborative publications, creating grant proposals, and managing client relationships.
In addition to her position with the Stastical Applications and Innovations Group, Dr. Van Mullekom serves as a professor of practice in Virginia Tech’s department of statistics. Before transitioning to higher education, she spent nearly two decades serving in statistical analysis roles with numerous corporations. Currently, she holds a part-time consulting role with DuPont, an American multinational chemical company.
Dr. Van Mullekom holds a master’s degree and doctorate in statistics from Virginia Tech.