Robert Brandon Gramacy

Robert Brandon Gramacy is a Professor and Department Head in the Department of Statistics within the College of Science at Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech). He is also affiliate faculty in VT's Computational Modeling and Data Analytics (CMDA) program. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Econometrics and Statistics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and a fellow of the Computation Institute.

Dr. Gramacy specializes in computational statistics, focusing on areas where ideal modeling approaches are impractical or current solutions lack fidelity. His research spans Bayesian modeling methodology, statistical computing, Monte Carlo inference, nonparametric regression, sequential design, and optimization under uncertainty. He develops new models, methods, and algorithms while remaining grounded in real-world applications across diverse fields including aerospace engineering, climate science, epidemiology, finance, and environmental management. His work on NASA rocket booster design led to the development of the tgp R package, which has found wide applicability across numerous scientific domains.

His recent research focuses on large-scale surrogate modeling, particularly with local approximate Gaussian processes (laGP) and heteroskedastic Gaussian processes (hetGP). He has made significant contributions to predicting atmospheric drag of satellites in orbit and is currently leading an NSF-funded project to forecast phytoplankton blooms for drinking water quality management. His publications demonstrate a consistent focus on scalable methods for complex computer experiments and real-world applications.

• Savage Award for best Ph.D. thesis in Bayesian applied methodology (2006)
• Facebook faculty award for research on large scale surrogate modeling (2017)
• Outstanding Service Award from the ASA Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences (2022)
• Editor-in-Chief of Technometrics (since Jan 1, 2023)
• Lloyd S. Nelson Award and Youden Award for significant contributions to applied statistics

Dr. Gramacy mentors numerous graduate students and postdocs, emphasizing reproducible research, high-quality software development, and clear scientific communication. His lab members work on cutting-edge problems in statistical methodology and applications across multiple domains. As Editor-in-Chief of Technometrics, he plays a key role in shaping publication standards for applied statistics research and has published guidance for authors on writing effective statistical papers.