Grace Wahba
Encyclopedia
Grace Wahba is the I. J. Schoenberg Professor of Statistics
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. She is a pioneer in methods for smoothing
noisy data. Best known for the development of generalized cross-validation and "Wahba's problem
", she has developed methods with applications in demographic studies, machine learning
, DNA microarrays, risk modeling
, medical imaging
, and climate prediction
.
She was educated at Cornell (B.A. 1956), University of Maryland, College Park
(M.A. 1962) and Stanford (Ph.D. 1966), and worked in industry for several years before receiving her doctorate in 1966 and settling in Madison
in 1967. She is the author of Spline Models for Observational Data. She was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences
in 2000 and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science
from the University of Chicago in 2007.
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. She is a pioneer in methods for smoothing
Smoothing
In statistics and image processing, to smooth a data set is to create an approximating function that attempts to capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise or other fine-scale structures/rapid phenomena. Many different algorithms are used in smoothing...
noisy data. Best known for the development of generalized cross-validation and "Wahba's problem
Wahba's problem
In applied mathematics, Wahba's problem, first posed by Grace Wahba in 1965, seeks to find a rotation matrix between two coordinate systems from a set of vector observations. Solutions to Wahba's problem are often used in satellite attitude determination utilising sensors such as magnetometers...
", she has developed methods with applications in demographic studies, machine learning
Machine learning
Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
, DNA microarrays, risk modeling
Risk modeling
For risk modeling in general see risk modelingFinancial risk modeling refers to the use of formal econometric techniques to determine the aggregate risk in a financial portfolio...
, medical imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
, and climate prediction
Climate prediction
Climate prediction is a subset of numerical weather prediction dealing with generalized forecasts beyond the usual short-range and medium-range forecast periods...
.
She was educated at Cornell (B.A. 1956), University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
(M.A. 1962) and Stanford (Ph.D. 1966), and worked in industry for several years before receiving her doctorate in 1966 and settling in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
in 1967. She is the author of Spline Models for Observational Data. She was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
in 2000 and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
from the University of Chicago in 2007.