The former president of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Andreas Georgiou, continues his fight to clear his name of any wrongdoing alleged by the Greek government as prosecutions and trials linger on. Earlier this month, the ASA sent a new letter expressing support for Georgiou and his efforts to produce accurate official statistics (while he was head of ELSTAT), urging the Greek government to drop all charges and exonerate him of all previous convictions. This new letter follows a statement issued by the ASA in August, a statement released by the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in August, an opinion/editorial article written by ASA President Barry Nussbaum, a previous ASA letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras back in March, and an interview with Georgiou in Significance magazine.

In a first for Hawassa University, it’s School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences has awarded four doctoral degrees in statistics! Congratulations to:

• Dr. Negusse Y
• Dr. Denekew B
• Dr. Markos A
• Dr. Dechassa O

Each will contribute to the development of statistics in Ethiopia pertaining to education and research.

As interest in statistics coursework and programs continues to grow in schools, teachers now have a new activity to challenge the next generation of critical thinkers when it comes to analyzing and understanding data. The New York Times Learning Network is launching a unique data literacy exercise titled «What’s Going on in This Graph?» where students will use math and statistical thinking skills. Each month, a different graph will be published on a topic suitable for a variety of subjects across the curriculum, and students will be asked to answer the following questions:

• What do you notice?
• What do you wonder?
• What’s going on in this graph?

Prominent British statistician Sir David Cox was awarded the inaugural International Prize in Statistics at the ISI 61st World Statistics Congress, July 16, in Marrakech, Morocco. Presenting the award were ASA (ASA) President Barry D. Nussbaum, Royal Statistical Society (RSS) President David Spiegelhalter, International Biometric Society (IBS) President Elizabeth Thompson, Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) Past President Richard Davis, and International Statistical Institute (ISI) President Pedro Silva.

Following up on the ASA’s historic statement on statistical significance and p-values in 2016, the ASA is coordinating the Symposium on Statistical Inference (SSI). The event takes place October 11-13, 2017, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. With a theme of «Scientific Method for the 21st Century: A World Beyond p<0.05,» the program will consist of discussions centered on specific approaches for improving statistical practice as it intersects with three broad components of research activities:

• Conducting research in the 21st century
• Using research in the 21st century
• Sponsoring, disseminating, and replicating research in the 21st century

The symposium will also feature a media training session for statisticians. In all, SSI will drive change that leads to lasting improvements in statistical research, communicating and understanding uncertainty, and decision-making.

Students came, saw, and conquered complex data sets at the University of Toronto during the ASA DataFest competition in May. To showcase the fun and excitement, university staff developed a video capturing the teamwork, talent, and passion of students and advisors for all things statistical and data science.

The September issue of the Statistical Journal of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) focuses on an important theme for official statistics: urban regional and small area statistics. Several manuscripts touch on the challenges of using administrative data in the production of official statistics; imputation for missing values and methods for producing synthetic data; the use of tablets to collect data; and difficulties in counting everyone in a decennial census. Asta Manninen is the guest editor who compiled the issue in collaboration with Teodora Brandmuller and Klaus Trutzel on behalf of the IAOS Standing Committee on Regional and Urban Statistics (SCORUS).

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As always, we look forward to promoting the positive work of the global statistical community to educate the public, grow the profession, expand research and development, and improve the quality of life.