IMS Handbook

Committees

IMS Resolution on Equal Opportunities

The IMS is an equal opportunity organization, which seeks to ensure that all of its members participate in all of its activities to the fullest extent that is appropriate, regardless of age, sex, race or ethnicity, subject matter specialty, or any other characteristic. These opportunities for participation include, but are not restricted to membership of its standing committees, its program committees for sponsored and co-sponsored meetings, and its honors and awards, including fellowships and special lectureships.

Terms of IMS Committees

An annual cycle for a committee runs from one business meeting to the following business meeting. With the exception of the Committee on Nominations, a committee term is three years.

Committee Voting Procedure (applies to all committees for nominating officers or individuals for honors)

This procedure sets out voting systems for three different scenarios and also makes clear how the chair should act. It allows for multi-stage procedures where the committee can discuss the results between stages if it wishes. The amount of discussion between rounds of voting is up to the chair and the committee. This procedure does not consider the question of how candidates for voting are obtained, only how votes should be conducted and counted when they actually take place. In every vote conducted, the chair votes along with the rest of the committee. Where there is no simple way of breaking ties, the chair has an additional casting vote as set out below.

A. Selection of a single individual (e.g. Wald Lecture)
Stage 1:
Each committee member ranks up to three candidates: 1=first preference, 2=second preference, 3=third preference. If M preferences are used, then all the others are assigned rank M+1 when the votes are counted, so that if all 3 preferences are used then all the others are assigned rank 4. Within the M preferences expressed, equal ranks are not allowed. (So the voter may assign ranks 1-2-3-4-4-4-4-... or 1-2-3-3-3-3-3… or 1-2-2-2-2….)

The resulting ranks assigned by all voters are summed, and the two candidates with the smallest total rank are chosen to go on to the next stage.

If tie-breaking is needed, the number of first preference votes is used to break a tie (so among those with equal summed ranks, candidates with more first preferences are preferred). If this does not resolve the tie, there is a runoff vote between the tied candidates. In the runoff, each committee member including the chair has one vote. In the event of a tie in the runoff, the chair has the casting vote.

Stage 2:
The committee votes again (possibly after further discussion) between these two candidates to yield the winning candidate. The chair has an additional casting vote in the event of a tie.

B. Selection of a slate of individuals of fixed size N > 1 (e.g. any Medallion Lecture field where more than one candidate has to be selected). If N=1 then the procedures under scenario A above are used.

If there are segmented fields (e.g. a number for Probability and a number for Statistics) then the procedure operates separately for each field. In some cases these votes can be carried out concurrently, but in others they would have to be sequential (for instance if there is a "wild card" field.)

Stage 1:
If there are more than N+2 candidates, narrow the field to N+2 using the same procedure as in Stage 1 of Scenario A. Each voter expresses up to three preferences with no ties within these preferences; if M preferences are expressed all others are given rank M+1; then the N+2 candidates with the lowest summed rank (and, within those of the same summed rank, the highest number of first preferences) are chosen to go on to the next stage.

Stage 2:
Possibly after further discussion, narrow down to the final N candidates using the same procedure as in Stage 1 for just these N+2 candidates. The N candidates with the lowest summed rank (and, within those of the same summed rank, the highest number of first preferences) are chosen to be the final selection.

In both cases the tie-breaking procedure, if needed, is as set out for Stage 1 of Scenario A.

C. Selection of a slate of individuals of indefinite size (e.g., Fellows)

Let M be the size of the committee and let K be the integer part of (M+1)/2. There are at most five rounds of voting. In each round proceed as follows:

Stage 1:
Each selection committee member, including the chair, votes for, against or abstains on each candidate still under consideration (i.e. who has not been finally rejected or selected; initially this is all the candidates). For each candidate the net score is the number for minus the number against.

In each round of voting, any candidate who achieves a net score of K or more is put on the final slate and is not voted on again. Those with a score less than Z are eliminated from further consideration, where Z= -2 in the first round of voting, 0 in rounds 2, 3 and 4, and K in round 5. Those with net scores between Z and K-1 inclusive are retained for future consideration and voting, unless the process is terminated by the vote taken as described in Stage 2 below.

Stage 2:
After the third and fourth round of voting, have a single vote on whether to approve the current slate of finally selected candidates or whether to continue voting. [If there is a tie in the single vote, the committee moves to the next round and does not terminate the process.] After the first two rounds voting is reopened automatically provided that there are still candidates who have not been finally selected or rejected. If the voting goes as far as five rounds, after the fifth round of voting all candidates who have not been finally selected are rejected and the resulting slate of selected candidates is automatically approved.

Committee on the Asia Pacific Rim Meeting

In August 2009, the IMS Council agreed that the following guidelines will be instituted for the IMS-APRM Committee:

• The Asia and Pacific-Rim Meetings (IMS-APRM) is an ongoing IMS Sponsored Meeting.
• The meeting will initially occur every two years, but can be adjusted based on demand.
• The IMS-APRM Program Committee is a standing committee and its members should be appointed by the IMS President in consultation with appropriate societies from the countries represented in the APRM.
• The IMS Program Secretary sits ex-officio on the committee.
• The committee is responsible for all decisions regarding the meeting planning and programming, including the location and the local chair.
• The IMS will maintain an account for the IMS-APRM. The fund will be used for net income and losses for this meeting only as needed. No disbursements will be made out of the fund to the IMS or any other organization.

Committee for the Carver Medal

The Harry C. Carver Medal was created by the IMS in honor of H. C. Carver, Founding Editor of the Annals of Mathematical Statistics and one of the founders of the IMS. The medal is for exceptional service specifically to the IMS and is open to any member of the IMS who has not previously been elected President. Not more than one award shall be made each year. The nominating committee for the Carver Medal consists of three former Presidents of the IMS.

Committee on Electronic Issues

The Electronic Issues Committee is responsible for looking into issues surrounding electronic publishing and electronic issues pertaining to the IMS Business Office. This committee should have six members, each with a three-year appointment, with two members rotating out every year.

Committee on Fellows

Article IV, Section 2 of the Bylaws provides that, "Each President shall appoint at least three Fellows annually to serve three-year terms on the Committee on Fellows. The President shall designate one of those members whose term is next to expire as chair."

Article IV, Section 1 provides that, "The Council may, by majority vote, elect to Fellowship any Member nominated by the Committee on Fellows. Such nomination shall be on the basis of the Nominee's contributions to the development and dissemination of the theory and application of statistics and probability." Only members of the IMS are eligible to be Fellows of IMS.

The current policy and procedure of the Committee on Fellows was established by Council in 1997 and updated in 2005, 2006 and 2008. While the Council did not recommend a quota for fellowship, it was felt in 2006 that with a membership of 4400, a running average of between 10 and 25 new fellows elected each year was appropriate. By action of the Council, members of the Committee on Fellows may not nominate fellows or write supporting letters for nominees. The committee should look for those that should have been considered for Fellows and encourage IMS members to nominate them.

The Committee on Fellows should have a diverse membership. As a target, one-third of the membership should be compromised of probabilists, and one-third of statisticians, with the remaining one-third composed in a flexible manner from probabilists and statisticians, allowing for example for members whose interests intersect both areas or who are important for other needs of diversity.

Qualifications for Fellowship: The candidate shall have evidenced continuing activity in research in mathematical statistics by publication of independent work of merit.

The first qualification may be partly or wholly waived in the case of (a) a candidate of well-established leadership, whose contributions to the field of statistics or probability other than original research shall be judged of equal value; or (b) a candidate of well-established leadership in the application of statistics or probability, whose work has contributed greatly to the utility of and application of these areas.

Prospective fellows should have been members on December 1 of the year preceding the one in which they are to be considered for Fellowship by the committee. Candidates should also have shown a commitment to the IMS by having been members of the society for at least two years.

Procedures

A call for nominations is published. Members nominating a person for Fellowship transmit completed nomination materials including a list of not more than five publications, other reasons for nominating the person, and a brief citation. Supplementary material including a curriculum vitae, supporting letters, and any other relevant material should accompany the nomination. The nomination package is sent to the IMS Business Office, as per the instructions in the IMS Bulletin, by the deadline of January 31. The Executive Director distributes the nominations to all members of the Committee on Fellows.

Each nominee should be assigned for review to two committee members who do not have a direct personal or professional relationship with the nominee. These committee members are responsible for evaluating the professional standing of the nominee, the service of the nominee to the profession, and the service of the nominee to the IMS. The members should base their evaluations on the nomination materials and other publicly-available information. The members will report to the full committee that the nominee is "Highly Qualified," "Qualified," or "Not Qualified" to be a Fellow and will be prepared to defend this evaluation.

The voting procedure for the Committee on Fellows outlined above should supercede, as necessary, the "Voting Procedure for Committees" outlined earlier in this section.

The chair of the Committee will propose a list of nominees for final action by the full committee, taking into account the Committee ratings, a running average of 10 to 25 new Fellows each year, and the balance of the list by various factors. The Committee may amend the proposed list by adding, deleting, or replacing names on the list before final action on the recommendations to the Council.

The Chair of the Committee on Fellows arranges for discussion and voting. The committee shall not consider whether electing a nominee to Fellowship will impact a hiring, tenure, or promotion case. It shall not be held against a nominee that his/her main work is outside statistics, so long as his/her contribution to statistics satisfies the Qualifications for Fellowship in the IMS Handbook.

The Committee will finalize the citations for each elected Fellow and prepare the final list of Fellows with citations for the IMS Council. The Chair of the Committee reports this final list to the President on or before April 15 to allow sufficient time for Council approval and invitations to be sent to newly elected Fellows well in advance of the Annual Meeting.

The new Fellows are announced at the Presidential Address at the Annual Meeting. The President writes to all the nominators well before the Annual Meeting thanking them for their efforts and informing them of the results.

Committee on Finance

The Committee shall consist of the Past President, serving as chair, the Treasurer, and three members of the elected Council, one from each class. Additional members from outside the Council may be appointed to provide needed expertise. The Committee will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the investment policy adopted by the Council, monitoring financial procedures, recommending any needed changes in the policy and procedures and in the form of financial reports, and receiving and reviewing audit reports and communicating the results to the Executive Committee and Council.

In June 2010, the IMS Council approved the following Investment Policy:

• The IMS is committed to a policy of low-cost long-term indexed investing with minimal intervention.
• IMS investment funds (that is, the funds other than the operating funds or the operating reserve) should be invested as follows:
  1. 70% in domestic and international equities
  2. 30% in fixed-income instruments.
• The equity investment should be placed in low-cost index funds.
  1. 70% of the equity pool should be invested in an index fund that tracks the overall US stock market, such as the MSCIUS Broad Market Index.
  2. 30% of the equity pool should be invested in an index fund that tracks the overall international stock markets, such the MSCI EAFE + Emerging Markets Index.
• The fixed income investments should be invested in a low-cost index fund that tracks the overall US bond market, such as the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index.
• The funds should be reviewed annually and should be rebalanced if the actual allocations differ from the targets given here by more than 5%.
• All dividend and capital gains will be reinvested.

Committee on IMS China Guidelines

1. Purpose: The purpose of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) is to foster the development and dissemination of the theory and applications of statistics and probability.
   
   IMS China (IMSC) promotes the participation of Chinese scholars in IMS activities.


2. Governance: IMSC is a committee of the IMS and will adhere to the By-Laws and Constitution of the IMS, and is subject to the authority of the IMS. It will provide guidance to groups in China that wish to engage in the organization of conferences or publications.
   
   IMSC may encourage firms or individuals to contribute to other organizations in China as part of co-operation on conferences or other matters. IMSC will be an intellectual but not a financial participant in these activities, and will not solicit, receive, nor hold funds for itself in China or elsewhere, except as specified in point 6 below.
   Unless specifically approved by formal resolution of the IMS Council, IMSC will take no action to establish itself as a separate legal entity under the laws of any jurisdiction.


3. Membership: IMSC membership is open to any individual who is 18 years of age or older, resides legally in mainland China, agrees to abide by the By-Laws of the IMS and guidelines of IMSC and pays IMS membership dues on an annual basis. Any resident of another part of China may join IMSC, if he/she wishes, through a regular IMS membership.
   
   All IMSC members are individual members of the IMS and receive all rights of an IMS member. Mainland China refers to that part of China where the Renminbi is the only official currency.


4. Affiliations: IMSC is a part of a non-profit organization and neither IMSC nor the IMS is associated with any political party or religious group in China; however, the activities of IMSC are subject to the relevant and prevailing laws in the People's Republic of China.
   
   Any member of the Chinese Society of Probability and Statistics (CSPS) may opt to pay a joint membership fee to become a member of IMSC. The terms of the joint membership are negotiated between the CSPS and IMSC, subject to the approval of the IMS Council. Joint membership with other professional societies in China may be negotiated under the same principle.


5. IMSC Executive: Decisions regarding IMSC are made by the IMSC Executive (IMSCE). The IMSCE will consist of the IMSC Officers (Chair, Chair-elect, Past Chair, Treasurer, Program Chair and the IMSC Liaison, the latter appointed by the IMS President) plus fifteen representatives of the IMSC membership.
   
   5.1. Election and Nomination: The Chair-elect, Treasurer and Program Chair as well as the 15 representatives will be elected by the IMSC membership. Elections will take place every other year beginning in 2009. Elections will open on May 10 of an election year and close on June 25. All candidates will be notified of the election results by July 10. The terms on the IMSCE of those elected will start on August 15 of the following year, except that the Chair-elect becomes an IMSC Officer and member of the IMSCE effective August 15 of the same year.
   
   The Chair, in consultation with the Past Chair, will appoint a Nominating Committee before February 28 of an election year. The Nominating Committee normally consists of at least 7 members and nominates one candidate for Chair-elect, one candidate for Treasurer and one for Program Chair by April 30 of the election year. The candidate for Chair-elect may not be selected from the current IMSC Officers. No one will be a member of the IMSC Officers consecutively for more than 5 years.
   
   Among the valid votes, the Chair-elect candidate must receive a minimum of 50% to get elected. The candidate for Treasurer and the candidate for the Program Chair must receive a minimum of 25% of the valid votes to get elected. If a candidate does not receive the minimum required number of votes, a new candidate must be nominated by the Nominating Committee for a separate vote. The process repeats until all of the elected IMSCE Officers are determined. The Chair-elect will serve one year then move to the Chair position for two years and then to Past Chair for two years. The Treasurer and the Program Secretary will each serve two year terms.
   
   The Nominating Committee should also nominate no fewer than 20 candidates for the 15 positions of representative on the IMSCE. At least half of the candidates should not be current representatives on the IMSCE. The fifteen candidates who receive the largest number of votes are elected to the IMSCE for a two year term. In case of ties in the number of votes, a random tie breaking procedure will be followed. All nominees for the positions of representative on the IMSCE must be IMSC members at the time of election.
   
   5.2. Duties: The IMSCE is charged with protecting and promoting IMSC and with carrying out IMSC policies. The IMSCE makes decisions on major initiatives and major activities of IMSC. The Treasurer oversees the receipt and disbursement of all funds of IMSC, subject to the provisions of section 6. The Program Chair arranges and coordinates all activities concerned with meetings of IMSC. IMSC is the designated local organizer for IMS regional meetings in China. The Program Chair will work with the IMS and local professional societies in China to coordinate conferences and workshops that are of interest to IMS members.
   
   5.3 Publications: IMSC may cooperate with institutions or individuals to develop publications (monographs, textbooks, proceedings, or journals) in Chinese or English. Such publications, while they might be produced and distributed primarily in China, should also be available worldwide and conform to the legal and technical standards expected of IMS publications. In particular, copyright policies will be the same as those of the IMS. The constraints imposed in section 6 below imply that IMSC will not play a financial role in these activities. Neither will IMSC issue contracts to authors or publishers, or be the beneficial owner of intellectual property rights (such as copyrights), or receive indirect compensation for these developmental efforts.


6. Finance: IMSC will collect individual IMS membership dues in China, will convert all such funds received to USD, and will remit those funds to the IMS in payment for IMS memberships for the paying persons in China. The collecting agent for IMS dues will not hold the IMS dues for more time than is required for the funds to be economically remitted. Typically this would be less than three months. The above transactions will be made within the conventional banking system, using a conventional bank account, and full documentation of all transactions will be provided to the IMS. A report on compliance with these principles will be provided annually by the IMSCE. This report will be incorporated into the IMS Treasurer's report and will be published with the Treasurer's report in the IMS Bulletin. The IMS Treasurer will be responsible for reporting on compliance with this process and will be given copies of all bank statements relating to the previously mentioned account.
   
   Members who pay their dues through IMSC will be recorded as IMS members as soon as IMSC receives their membership dues. IMSC will update the list of members with the IMS Business Office on a regular basis.
   
   IMSC will not collect "IMSC dues" in excess of those remitted to the IMS. IMSC will not hold any funds in China or elsewhere except for the one account mentioned earlier.


7. Changes to Guidelines and Dissolution: Changes to these guidelines must be approved by the IMS Council. The IMS may decide to dissolve IMS China with 30 days written notice to the IMSCE.


8. Resolution of Disputes Within IMSCE and/or IMSC: In the event of any dispute arising between or among the IMSCE, IMSC, or any member or officer of the IMSCE or IMSC concerning the operation or governance of IMSC (including any dispute concerning the election of officers or representatives as described in Item 5, above), the dispute will be resolved by the IMS Council, and the determination of the IMS Council will be binding upon the disputants.

Committee on Memorials

The Memorials Committee sees that proper steps are taken to memorialize distinguished Statisticians and Probabilists who have died. The committee must choose whom to honor and how. The committee, in conjunction with the appropriate Editor or Program Chair, selects appropriate authors of memorial articles or organizers of memorial sessions and is responsible for recommending to the Council that an issue of a journal be dedicated to an individual deemed particularly deserving.

Dedication of Individual Articles in IMS Journals:
Dedication (memorial or non-memorial) of a regular refereed research article that has been accepted for publication can be approved by that journal's editor. The editor must inform the Committee on Memorials of the dedication. Unless the committee objects, the dedication remains. Inaction by the committee will not lead to delay of publication. The committee has the right to stop the dedication if it finds it to be inappropriate.

Committee on New Researchers

The New Researchers Committee's responsibility is to assist the IMS in understanding and meeting the needs of new researchers, especially concerning publications and meetings. The Committee will also be in charge of organizing and running the New Researchers Conference, under the supervision of the IMS Program Secretary. The members of the committee will serve for three years. One of those members shall be designated as chair by the IMS President, in consultation with the New Researchers Committee and IMS Program Secretary. If needed, a Local Arrangements Chair for the New Researchers Conference will also be selected by the same process.

Committee on Nominations

The By-Laws, Article III, Section 1.1 state that:
The President, in consultation with the President-Elect and the Past President, shall appoint a Nominating Committee before the annual Meeting when he or she retires as President and shall announce their names at the Annual Meeting. This Committee shall submit to the Members, through the Executive Secretary, at least four months before the next succeeding Business Meeting at least one nomination for President-Elect, and a slate containing at least twice as many names as the number of anticipated vacancies on the Council.

Committee on Publications

The Publications Committee is responsible for determining general policy for all publications of the Institute. The Editors of the official journals are ex-officio members.

Committee to Select Administrative Officers

The Committee to Select Administrative Officers submits nominations for Executive Secretary, Treasurer, Program Secretary, and Managing Editors when vacancies occur.

Committee to Select Editors

The Committee to Select Editors submits nominations for Editor of each publication as vacancies occur. The President is charged with appointing two additional ad hoc members to the Committee for each selection decision that must be made.

Committee on Special Lectures

The Committee on Special Lectures arranges for papers of unusual interest to be given at regular meetings by distinguished scientists. It also selects the Wald Lecturer and, in alternating years, the Neyman, Rietz and Le Cam Lecturers. The names of the selected lecturers are usually announced at the IMS Annual Meeting at least one year in advance.

The Annals and Statistical Science Editors are ex-officio members of the Committee on Special Lectures, since special papers are sometimes published in one of these journals. The Program Secretary serves as an ex officio member of the Committee on Special Lectures. The ex officio members are voting members of the committee.

The Council must first approve the list of Medallion and Named Lectures.

Once approved, the President or Program Secretary will contact each lecturer congratulating them and confirming their ability to participate.

Medallion Lectures
Each year, the committee invites eight individuals to deliver Medallion Lectures. No one who has given a Medallion Lecture (or a Special Invited Paper) is eligible to be chosen as a Medallion Lecturer, although they may be chosen as a Named Lecturer.

Medallion Lectures are distinct from Invited Papers, which are chosen by the various Program

Committees for specific meetings. Each Medallion Lecturer will receive a Medallion in a brief ceremony preceding the lecture.

The IMS Program Secretary will provide the chair of the Committee on Special Lectures with a list of sessions available for Medallion lectures during the time frame for which the Medallion Lectures are being selected. The list will consist of specific IMS sponsored and co-sponsored meetings and the number of potential Medallion sessions available at those meetings.

The Committee on Special Lectures will assign each Medallion nominee and alternate to a specific meeting that is appropriate to his/her research area. The assignment should be consistent with the availability of Medallion sessions.

The Chair of the Committee will submit the final slate of Medallion lectures and alternates to the Council for approval. Following approval by Council, individual Medallion nominees will be contacted by a member of the Executive Committee.

The Committee on Special Lectures will include in its selections of Medallion Lecturers, at least two people in probability; at least two people in statistics; and additionally at least one person in an interdisciplinary area. If this requirement conflicts with the available Medallion Sessions, the composition of the Medallion slate will be set by the Chair of the Committee and the Program Secretary.

Because more statisticians than probabilists are usually on the committee and each group tends to vote for people with whom they are familiar, probabilists may be less likely to be chosen. To overcome this problem, some committee chairs have devised voting schemes in which the number of Medallion Lectures in probability is fixed in advance, and then separate votes are taken in probability and statistics.

The chair of the Special Lectures Committee should be provided with a list of the past Medallion Lecturers (or deliverers of Special Invited Papers).

Named Lectures
All IMS named lectures are selected by the Committee on Special Lectures and are given at the Annual Meeting. Details for each lecture follow.

IMS Lectures
• Wald Memorial Lectures
  The Wald Memorial Lectures honor Professor Abraham Wald. The Wald Lecturer gives two, three or four one-hour talks on one subject. This gives sufficient time to develop material in some detail and make it accessible to nonspecialists.
• Rietz Lecture
  The Rietz Lectures are named after the first President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Professor Henry L. Rietz. The Lectures are intended to be of broad interest and are given every third year alternating with the Neyman and Le Cam Lectures. The Rietz Lectures serve to clarify the relationship of statistical methodology and analysis to other fields.
• Neyman Lecture
  The Neyman Lecture is to be given every third year, alternating with the Rietz and Le Cam Lectures. The Neyman Lecture ordinarily will emphasize the interactions between statistical theory and scientific research.
• Le Cam Lecture
  The Le Cam Lecture is to be given every third year, alternating with the Rietz and Neyman Lectures. The lecturer should be an individual whose contributions have been or promise to be fundamental to the development of mathematical statistics or probability. An endowment was set up by friends of Le Cam to cover the cost of travel and a plaque for the lecturer.

Committee on Travel Awards

The Committee on Travel Awards selects recipients of the Tweedie New Researcher Award and the Laha Travel Grants. The Committee will comprise three members, a statistician, a probabilist and someone with both interests, or a biostatistician or another statistician. The three members will have rolling terms, each for three years.

• Tweedie New Researcher Award
  The Tweedie New Researcher Award is funded by donations from Richard Tweedie's friends and family. This award provides funds for travel to present the Tweedie New Researcher Invited Lecture at the IMS New Researchers' Conference.
• Laha Travel Awards
  With funds from a generous bequest by the late Professor Radha Govind Laha, the IMS has established the Laha Awards to provide funds for travel to present a paper at the IMS Annual Meeting. First priority is given to students, second priority to New Researchers within two years of their Ph.D. degree at the date of the meeting. Applicants must be members of IMS, though joining at the time of application is allowed. Between 10 and 15 awards are made annually. The application deadline is February 1.

 

Editor, IMS Scientific Legacy

An IMS Scientific Legacy section of the website imstat.org will be developed, and the position of Editor for IMS Scientific Legacy will be created to develop, and oversee the operation of, the scientific legacy pages. The Editor for IMS Scientific Legacy will have appropriate web skills, will be an ex officio member of the IMS Committee on Memorials, will be approved by Council after recommendation by the Executive and the Committee on Memorials, and will be appointed for a term of three years.