C.F. Jeff Wu, Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, recently received the American Statistical Association’s Deming Lecture Award, a prestigious honor given to an individual who has made significant contributions in the field of statistics. As a recipient of the award, Wu gave the Deming Lecture, titled “Quality Improvement: From Autos and Chips to Nano and Bio,” on July 31 at the 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in San Diego, California.

Wu’s lecture focused on quality improvement (QI).

Quality improvement has a glorious history, starting from Shewhart’s path-breaking work on statistical process control to Deming’s high-impact work on quality management. Statistical concepts and tools played a key role in such work. As the applications became more sophisticated, elaborate statistical methods were required to tackle the problems. In the last three decades, QI has seen more use of experimental design and analysis, particularly the methodology of robust parameter design (RPD).

A recognized icon in the field of engineering statistics, Wu is continuously invited to give lectures at events hosted by some of the most respected organizations in the field. Wu's honors include membership on the National Academy of Engineering, Member of Academia Sinica, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS)  Presidents’ Award in 1987, COPSS Fisher Lecture Award in 2011, honorary professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an honorary doctor of mathematics at University of Waterloo.

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.  He earned his BS in Mathematics from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley. Wu joined Georgia Tech in the summer of 2003.

The Deming Lecturer Award was established in 1995 to honor the accomplishments of famous statistician W. Edwards Deming, recognize the accomplishments of the awardee, and enhance the awareness among the statistical community of the scope and importance of Deming's contributions.

JSM is the largest gathering of statisticians held in North America, with over 6,000 attendees each year.  It is held jointly with the American Statistical Association, the International Biometric Society, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the Statistical Society of Canada, and the International Chinese Statistical Association, and the International Indian Statistical Association.