Mary G. and Joseph Natrella Scholarship

 

The Quality and Productivity Section of the American Statistical Association announces the 2009 Mary G. and Joseph Natrella Scholarship, which supports student participation in the 2009 Quality and Productivity Research Conference (QPRC).  Winners will receive a $2500 grant, a $500 stipend toward travel and housing expenses, complimentary registration for the conference and complimentary registration for any pre-conference tutorial that is given in conjunction with the conference. In addition, winners will give a presentation on their research at the 2009 QPRC, which will be held in Yorktown Heights, NY on June 3-5, 2009. The scholarship is funded by the Mary G. and Joseph Natrella Scholarship Fund and the Quality and Productivity Section of the ASA.

 

Purpose and History

The scholarship was initiated by a contribution to the ASA Quality and Productivity Section given by Joseph Natrella at the time of Mary Natrella's death to honor her many contributions to the statistical community. The Natrellas always maintained a strong mutual interest in quality applications of statistics. Mary was for many years a staff member of the Statistical Engineering Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Most of Joe's career was spent with the Department of Defense and NASA as a mathematician in charge of data processing and computations. 

 

Mary's most important publication, NBS Handbook 91: Experimental Statistics, is one of the all-time best selling publications of NIST. Originally published in 1963 by the Government Printing Office, it was later reprinted by Wiley-InterScience in its Selected Government Publications series, and has been recently reprinted in paperback by Dover Publications. The ASA Q&P Section established the scholarship in 2000 to honor Mary's 36 years as an author, teacher and consulting statistician.

 

Recent recipients of the Natrella Scholarship describe their experiences as follows.

 

"It was a great honor to be a Natrella Scholarship recipient. Attending and presenting at the conference allowed me to meet other students and professionals in my area of study. The scholarship award also allowed me to work full-time during the summer on my research. This recognition has been the highlight of my academic career."  – Veronica Montes De Oca, 2008 recipient from the University of California, Riverside.

 

"Receiving the Natrella Scholarship was a great honor.  The grant provided me a good opportunity to present a part of my PhD dissertation at the 2008 Quality and Productivity Research Conference for the first time and to get some valuable feedback on my research. Also, the Natrella Scholarship will help me to conduct further research on quality control, especially in profile monitoring analysis using our new methods. At the QPRC conference I was able to meet with other researchers in my area and attend presentations of new statistical methods that sparked ideas for my current and future research.” – Abdel-Salam G. Abdel-Salam, 2008 recipient from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

 

Eligibility

Application is open to students who are currently pursuing a master's or doctoral degree full-time in an accredited college or university. The student must have a demonstrated interest in Quality applications as evidenced by course work, research topic, prior work experience, etc. Applicants should be prepared to make a presentation of their research work at the 2009 Quality and Productivity Research Conference. Applicants will receive equal consideration regardless of race, religion, gender, or national origin.

 

Selection Criteria

The Mary G. and Joseph Natrella Scholarship Award Committee will select the scholarship recipient based principally on the following criteria:

·         Mentoring and teaching

·         Leadership and/or professional service

·         Experience in statistical applications

 

Also considered will be:

·         Scholarship

·         Authorship and research

·         Community service

 

Important Dates

The application deadline is March 16, 2009. Scholarship recipients will be selected by March 31, 2009. Scholarships will be awarded at the Quality and Productivity Research Conference banquet on June 3, 2009.

 

Application instructions and materials can be found at http://www.amstat-online.org/sections/qp/Natrella_Scholarship_Application.doc . The conference will be held June 3-5, 2009 at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. Information about the conference can be found at http://research.ihost.com/qprc_2009/ .