About Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

[Adapted from the "About the Author" section of Struck by Lightning.]

Jeffrey S. Rosenthal is a professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 1967, he was raised in a very mathematical family: both parents, one grandfather, and one uncle taught math, while another grandfather was an accountant. His interest in probability theory began at an early age; even as a child he enjoyed flipping coins, rolling dice, and computing probabilities.

Rosenthal received his BSc in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the University of Toronto at the age of 20; his PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University at the age of 24; and tenure in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto at the age of 29. For his research, he was awarded the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, and also the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the most prestigious honour bestowed by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. For his lecturing, he received a Harvard University Teaching Award in 1991, and an Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of Toronto in 1998.

Rosenthal's book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was a bestseller in Canada, and is being published in a total of sixteen countries and nine languages. It led to numerous media and public appearances. Rosenthal has also published two textbooks about probability theory, and over seventy research papers, many related to the field of Markov chain Monte Carlo randomised computer algorithms. He has dabbled as a computer game programmer, musician, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French. He maintains the web site www.probability.ca.

Despite being born on Friday the thirteenth, Rosenthal has been a very fortunate person.

Or an even briefer version:

Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1992. He was awarded the CRM-SSC Prize in 2006, the COPSS Presidents' Award in 2007, and teaching awards in 1991 and 1998. His book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen countries and nine languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. He maintains the web site www.probability.ca.