Rebecca A. Betensky is a professor of

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) is a branch of statistics that applies statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experimen ...

and chair of the department of biostatistics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's School of Global Public Health. Previously, she was a professor of biostatistics at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

, where she directed the biostatistics program for the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. She was also a biostatistician for

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

, where she directed the biostatistics core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Education and career

Betensky studied mathematics as an undergraduate in

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, graduating in 1987. She completed a doctorate in statistics at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1992. Her dissertation, supervised by David Siegmund, was ''A Study of Sequential Procedures for Comparing Three Treatments''. After postdoctoral studies at Stanford, she joined the faculty of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1993. She returned to Harvard as a faculty member in 1994, recruited as part of a large

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

-funded contract for Harvard to perform statistics for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. She became associated with Mass General in 2007. In 2018, she joined the faculty of New York University's School of Global Public Health as professor and chair of the department of biostatistics.

Awards and honors

Betensky has been a

fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

since 2003, and an elected member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...

since 2007. She won the Mortimer Spiegelman Award of the

American Public Health Association The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...

in 2005. In 2023 Betensky was awarded Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

References

External links

Faculty profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betensky, Rebecca A. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American statisticians American women statisticians Harvard College alumni Stanford University alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty New York University faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science