Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
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Kato named IMS fellow; Matteson named IMS and ASA fellow

May 29, 2024

By Louis DiPietro

Kengo Kato and David Matteson, two professors in the Department of Statistics and Data Science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, have been named fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), considered the premier organization of mathematical statisticians and probability scholars in the world. Additionally, Matteson was also named a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the world’s largest community of statisticians.  

Kengo Kato

Kato, a professor of statistics and data science, was recognized by IMS for "fundamental contributions to high-dimensional central limit theorems and bootstrapping, including those for U-statistics and data with complex dependence structures, their applications to nonparametric statistical models, quantile regression, and statistical optimal transport."

The fellowship from IMS is the latest distinction bestowed on Kato. He is the recipient of the Japan Academy Medal, regarded as the most prestigious award for young Japanese researchers (2020), the Analysis Award from the Mathematical Society of Japan (2021), and the Ann S. Bowers ’59 Research Award from Cornell Bowers CIS (2023), among others.

Kato joined Cornell in 2018. 

David Matteson

Matteson, associate department chair and professor of statistics and data science and social statistics, was recognized by IMS for “significant contributions in many scientific areas and for his fundamental contributions to machine learning, statistical theory, and applications, including multiple R packages.” He was also honored for his important contributions to data science and excellent service to the ASA and IMS.

Matteson joined Cornell in 2008 and, along with a faculty appointment in Cornell Bowers CIS, is a member of Cornell’s ILR School and the Center for Applied Mathematics.

His research centers on methods and theory for modeling complex human and natural processes and systems, with expertise in dynamic, spatial, functional, and network data science and machine learning. He is the director of the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, which he was instrumental in bringing to Cornell, and also serves as director of the PRISM Institute for Trans-domain System Risk and co-director of TRIPODS Greater Data Science Cooperative Institute. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the journal “Data Science in Science,” which he launched in 2022.

His many awards and honors include a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (2015), the State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence (2022), the college’s inaugural Ann S. Bowers Research Excellence Award (2022), and Faculty Research Awards from the Xerox/PARC Foundation (2014).

Matteson received his Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago and his Bachelor of Science in Business degree in finance, mathematics, and statistics from the University of Minnesota. 

Louis DiPietro is a writer for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.