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| 2006 Honor a Statistician Award |
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Four years ago the Connecticut Chapter began recognizing Chapter members with the Honor A
Statistician Award. The qualifications for the award are to be an ASA and Chapter member who has
made significant contributions to statistics and its applications. Involvement in Chapter
activities is also considered. This year we were pleased to present Fred Djang
with the award. Fred has been a mathematics and statistics teacher for 40 years, including 26 years at
Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford. In addition, Fred has worked as a Biostatistician at Bristol-Myers
Squibb since 1980. He has been a long-time member of the Connecticut Chapter, having served as
Vice President, President, and Chapter Representative to the ASA, as well as other positions at the
Chapter and national level.
Fred was chosen to receive this award in recognition of his service to the chapter and of his work on the
national and local level in the development of the AP Statistics Test. Since 1997 Fred has been
instrumental in the start-up and development of AP Statistics curriculum on a national level, and
continues being a key organizer of the program. In addition, he has sponsored learning workshops here
in Connecticut to help local teachers get involved.
Fred was presented with the award at the Chapter Banquet in June
2006. He was asked to give a
presentation at the banquet, which, fittingly enough, was on the growth and development of AP
Statistics. On behalf of the Chapter members, the members of the executive committee once again
extend our congratulations to Fred for receiving this award.
The abstract for Freds talk is presented below:
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| AP Statistics and Its Impact |
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This presentation celebrated AP Statistics for the connection it makes to secondary school and on to
junior high and elementary school. It celebrated its rapid and sustained growth in the number of
students taking the exams and the inferred number of students who are taking the course. The numbers
are impressive. When a school decides to offer this course it seems natural to offer it in the mathematics
department. However, statistics is largely a study of variability and, as we all know, mathematics
courses tend to frown on variability. Many mathematics teachers have had minimal exposure to
statistics. As statisticians we can be very helpful in assisting teachers by letting them know that we are
available and willing to answer questions. In this overview of AP Statistics, Fred demonstrated
several examples which are currently being used in AP Statistics courses. These examples have proven
to be helpful in teaching statistical concepts. With your knowledge and ingenuity, I am sure that you
will see other useful applications.
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