Biography of Jeffrey S. Rosenthal

Available below in a descriptive version or point-by-point version, and also in some shorter versions. (See also a photo and book cover and full CV (pdf) and related article (pdf) and improv player profile.)


Descriptive Version:

Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 1967, he 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, Rosenthal was awarded the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, and the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the most prestigious honour bestowed by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. For his teaching, he received a Harvard University Teaching Award in 1991, and a University of Toronto Outstanding Teaching Award in 1998. He was elected to Fellowship of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 2005, and to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012, and was awarded the SSC Gold Medal in 2013, and a President's Impact Award in 2019.

Rosenthal's book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. It led to numerous media and public appearances, and to his work exposing the Ontario lottery retailer scandal. It was followed by a second book for the general public, Knock On Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything. Rosenthal has also published three textbooks about probability theory, and well over one hundred refereed research papers, many related to the field of Markov chain Monte Carlo randomised computer algorithms and to interdisciplinary applications of statistics. He has dabbled as a computer game programmer, musical performer, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French. His web site is www.probability.ca, and on Twitter he is @ProbabilityProf.

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

(See also the shorter versions below.)


Point-by-point Version:

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Shorter Versions:

One-Sentence Version: Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto, and the author of the bestseller Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities.

Four-Sentence Version: Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor 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 editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. His web site is www.probability.ca, and on Twitter he is @ProbabilityProf.

Full-Paragraph Version: Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto. He obtained his BSc from the University of Toronto at the age of 20, his PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University at the age of 24, and tenure at the University of Toronto at the age of 29. He received the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the 2013 SSC Gold Medal, a 2019 President's Impact Award, and teaching awards at both Harvard and Toronto. He is a fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and of the Royal Society of Canada. Rosenthal's book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada, leading to numerous media and public appearances, and to his work exposing the Ontario lottery retailer scandal. It was followed by a second book for the general public, Knock On Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything. He has also dabbled as a computer game programmer, musical performer, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French. His web site is www.probability.ca, and on Twitter he is @ProbabilityProf. Despite being born on Friday the thirteenth, Rosenthal has been a very fortunate person.

Non-Research Version: Jeffrey Rosenthal is an award-winning professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto. He received his BSc from the University of Toronto at the age of 20, and his PhD from Harvard University at the age of 24. His book for the general public, Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was published in sixteen editions and ten languages, and was a bestseller in Canada. This led to numerous media and public appearances, and to his work exposing the Ontario lottery retailer scandal. It was followed by a second book for the general public, Knock On Wood: Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything. Dr. Rosenthal has also dabbled as a computer game programmer, musical performer, and improvisational comedy performer, and is fluent in French. His web site is www.probability.ca, and on Twitter he is @ProbabilityProf. Despite being born on Friday the thirteenth, Rosenthal has been a very fortunate person.

Research-Focused Version: Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto, specialising in Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms. He received his BSc from the University of Toronto, and his PhD in Mathematics from Harvard University. He was awarded the 2006 CRM-SSC Prize, the 2007 COPSS Presidents' Award, the 2013 SSC Gold Medal, and fellowship of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and of the Royal Society of Canada. He has published over one hundred research papers and five books (including the bestseller Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities). His web site is www.probability.ca.



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