Nicole Lazar

Nicole Lazar is the Department Head and Professor of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University. She holds a PhD from the University of Chicago (1996), an MS from Stanford University (1993), and a BA in Psychology and Statistics from Tel Aviv University (1988). Her research focuses on foundational statistical inference, neuroimaging data analysis, and topological data science, with applications in cognitive neuroscience, climatology, and psychology. She pioneered statistical methods for fMRI analysis and has developed interdisciplinary approaches at the intersection of statistics, mathematics, and computer science.

Her professional service includes roles as Editor of *The American Statistician*, Associate Editor for multiple journals, and co-Editor of a Special Issue on 'Statistical Inference in the 21st Century.' Lazar authored the textbook *The Statistical Analysis of Functional MRI Data* (Springer) and has published extensively in top journals. She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2014), Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (2021), and Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute (2006). Previously, she served on faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Georgia, where she also served as Interim Department Head (2014–2016).

Lazar’s teaching includes advanced courses like STAT 470W (Statistical Consulting), STAT 512 (Applied Nonparametric Statistics), and STAT 580/581 (Advanced Topics in Statistics). Her work emphasizes methodological innovations, reproducibility in science, and promoting gender equity in statistics through her presidency of the Caucus for Women in Statistics (2019).