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Distinguished Lecture in Statistical Sciences: Models and Likelihood – Sept 30, 2025
Session Description
September 30 2025 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Abstract:
With vast amounts of data available in nearly every scientific endeavour, parametrized models may seem an anachronism from a more classical age of statistics. However, the likelihood function, or one of its many variants, is regularly used in both theory and applications as a starting point, or a useful tool, or even a gold standard. This talk will discuss likelihood functions with high-dimensional parameters and the connections to nonparametric and semi-parametric modelling, with an emphasis on the importance of foundational thinking in successful statistical practice.
Speaker Profile:
Nancy Reid studied at the University of Waterloo (B.Math. 1974), the University of British Columbia (M.Sc. 1976), Stanford University (PhD 1979) and Imperial College, London (PDF 1980). She joined the University of Toronto in 1986 from the University of British Columbia. She has held several leadership roles in statistical science including Chair of the Department (1997–2002) and Scientific Director of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (2015–2019).
Nancy is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2015 she was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.
Format: Hybrid Event (In person in Toronto / Online by Zoom)