Sarah (Sally) Newcomb Whitney Thurston (born 1956) is an American biostatistician and environmental statistician whose research involves the application of

Bayesian hierarchical modeling Bayesian hierarchical modelling is a statistical model written in multiple levels (hierarchical form) that estimates the parametric model, parameters of the Posterior probability, posterior distribution using the Bayesian inference, Bayesian metho ...

to problems in

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

, including work on

endocrine disruptors Endocrine disruptors, sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormonal) systems. These disruptions can cause n ...

, the effects of

mercury in fish The presence of mercury in fish is a health concern for people who eat them, especially for women who are or may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children. Fish and shellfish concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of m ...

prenatal development Prenatal development () involves the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal de ...

, and the health effects of

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

. She is a professor of biostatistics and a professor of environmental science in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the

University of Rochester Medical Center The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), now known as UR Medicine, is located in Rochester, New York, is a medical complex on the main campus of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, resea ...

Education and career

Thurston majored in biology at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, graduating in 1978. After earning a master's degree in natural resources from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1991, she went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for doctoral study in statistics. She earned a second master's degree in 1992 before completing her Ph.D. in 1997. Her doctoral dissertation, '' Error Analysis of Food Stamp Microsimulation Models'', was jointly advised by Alan M. Zaslavsky and

Donald Rubin Donald Bruce Rubin (born December 22, 1943) is an Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Harvard University, where he chaired the department of Statistics for 13 years. He also works at Tsinghua University in China and at Temple University in Philad ...

. She stayed at Harvard as a postdoctoral research fellow (1997–2000) and research associate (2000–2002) before moving to her present position at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 2002. She added a second affiliation in oncology in 2005, and was tenured in 2008.

Personal life

Thurston is the daughter of mathematician

Hassler Whitney Hassler Whitney (March 23, 1907 – May 10, 1989) was an American mathematician. He was one of the founders of singularity theory, and did foundational work in manifolds, embeddings, immersion (mathematics), immersions, characteristic classes and, ...

. Her mother Mary Barnett Garfield was a granddaughter of Harry Augustus Garfield and great-granddaughter of

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot two months earlier. A preacher, lawyer, and Civi ...

Recognition

Thurston became 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 ...

in 2006. She is 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 ...

, elected in 2019.

References

1956 births Garfield family {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Sally Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women statisticians American biostatisticians Oberlin College alumni Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Rochester faculty Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Fellows of the American Statistical Association