C.F. Jeff Wu, Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) at Georgia Tech, was selected by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) as the recipient of the 2011 COPPS Fisher Lecture Award.  The prestigious Fisher Lecture Award is awarded to an individual who has very high recognition of meritorious achievement and scholarship in statistical science and recognizes highly significant impact of statistical methods on scientific investigations.

Wu receive the award for his “fundamental contributions to the planning, analysis and interpretation of statistical studies that have had a profound impact on the practice of statistics, especially in engineering; this includes significant results on resampling methods, theory of experimental design and pioneering work in industrial statistics that have changed the way statistical studies are used to optimize products and processes.”

Wu’s research contributions span the full range of statistics, from theory to application, and touch many applied domains, from sample surveys to nanotechnology. They are notable for their combination of novelty, technical strength, and far-reaching vision. He has made especially significant contributions to experimental design. As one of his supporters wrote, “In view of Professor Wu’s contribution to design of experiments, it is particularly fitting for him to deliver a lecture that honors R. A. Fisher, commonly regarded as father of the modern theory of experimental design.”

The R.A. Fisher Lectureship was established in 1963 by COPSS to honor both the contributions of Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher and the work of a present-day statistician for their advancement of statistical theory and applications.  COPSS has required that the Lectureship be awarded each year and that when possible the lecture be presented each year at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM), the largest gathering of statistician held in North America.

Wu delivered the Fisher Lecture, entitled Post-Fisherian Experimentation: From Physical To Virtual, on August 3, 2011 at the JSM in Miami Beach, Florida with over 1000 attendees.