SciData Director Kupresanin Honored as ASA Fellow

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab’s) Director of the Scientific Data Division, Ana Kupresanin, was selected for the American Statistical Association’s (ASA’s) 2024 Fellow cohort. The ASA honored Kupresanin for her exceptional statistical leadership in addressing critical national security challenges, amplifying the influence of statistical methods within the National Lab system, and mentoring the next generation of statisticians. ASA Fellow nominees are evaluated and selected for this coveted distinction based on their contributions to the advancement of statistical science and their published works, contributions to the ASA and other associations, and professional roles.

“The recognition from the ASA and my colleagues is humbling,” said Kupresanin. “Being selected as an ASA Fellow is one of the highest honors in our profession.”

Kupresanin’s research focuses primarily on crafting advanced statistical and ML models that seamlessly integrate real-world variability and probabilistic behavior. She aims to rigorously quantify uncertainty within engineering and physics models, forging a path towards more accurate and reliable insights in these fields. Kupresanin is the program chair-elect for the ASA’s Statistics in Defense and National Security section. She also served as chair of the ASA Uncertainty Quantification Interest Group, technical program committee member for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) AI for Science, Security, and Energy workshops, and co-chair of DOE’s Advancing Fusion with Machine Learning workshop. She has received two NNSA Defense Programs Awards of Excellence.

The ASA was founded in Boston in 1839 and is the second-oldest continuously operating professional society in the US. Although all ASA members can become Fellows, only one-third of one percent of its membership receives the coveted distinction each year. Fellows must have “an established reputation in the field and have made significant contributions to statistical science,” according to the ASA. Kupresanin was the only employee at a DOE National Lab to receive this distinction in 2024.

“All of us in the Computing Sciences Area congratulate Ana on this prestigious honor,” said Jonathan Carter, Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences. “It is no surprise to see Ana receive this accolade given her accomplishments in the field and her enthusiasm for mentoring early career scientists.”

While looking to the future, Kupresanin said, “I am grateful to my mentors, mentees, colleagues, and collaborators. So much of what we do is enhanced by the people we do it with, and I am honored to have been surrounded throughout my career by such an outstanding group of statisticians, scientists, and engineers. In particular, during my time as a member and leader of the Applied Statistics Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, I learned a lot from my students, post-docs, and fellow group members.”

The ASA Fellows induction ceremony will be held during the 2024 Joint Statistical Meetings in Portland, Oregon, from August 3 to 8, 2024.