James R. Thompson Distinguished Lecture Series

The Department of Statistics at Rice University has established the James R. Thompson Distinguished Lecture Series and the James R. Thompson Student Award in Statistics to honor the life of the Rice professor and founding chair of our department in 1987.

The goal of the series is to bring to campus internationally recognized scholars in the field of statistics to deliver talks to multidisciplinary audiences on topics of broad interest. The lecture series is supported by an endowed James R. Thompson Memorial Fund through the generous contributions of family, friends, and colleagues. This series is NISS Sponsored​ and Affiliate Award Fund Eligible.

The James R. Thompson Student Award is presented to the recipient(s) at the annual lecture event.


Upcoming Lecture

The 2024 James R. Thompson Distinguished Lecture is scheduled to take place:

February 5, 2024
at 4pm
with awardee Alicia Carriquiry, Iowa State University
In person in McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall

Past Lectures