Xiao-Li Meng, Ph.D., the Whipple V.N. Jones Professor of Statistics?and chair of the Department of Statistics, has been named dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard University, effective Aug. 15.

As Statistics Department chair since 2004, Meng has overseen a dramatic expansion of the department, as the number of undergraduate concentrators has grown from a single digit to more than 70, and the department’s core undergraduate courses have surged in popularity. He also has worked closely with alumni and alumnae to raise funds to establish the first endowed biennial distinguished teaching lecture series, junior faculty/teaching fellow awards (David Pickard Memorial Fund), and graduate student research awards (Art Dempster Fund) in statistics.

Born in Shanghai, Meng received a B.S. in mathematics (1982) and a diploma in graduate study of mathematical statistics (1986), both from Fudan University in Shanghai. He received his Ph.D. in statistics from Harvard in 1990. From 1991 to 2001, when he came to Harvard, Meng was assistant, associate, and then full professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Chicago. He remains affiliated with the University of Chicago as a faculty member of its Center for Health Statistics.

滬江英語快訊：近日，哈佛大學宣布：哈佛大學統(tǒng)計系主任、教授孟曉犁被正式提名為哈佛大學文理研究生院的新任永久院長，自8月15日起生效。這是首位出任世界頂尖大學研究生院院長的華人學者。

孟曉犁，1963年出生于上海，1978年考入復旦大學數(shù)學系。1982年本科畢業(yè)后，1984－1986年繼續(xù)在復旦大學數(shù)學研究所概率統(tǒng)計研究生班學習。畢業(yè)后，前往美國求學，并于1990年獲得哈佛大學統(tǒng)計學博士學位。此后，他先后在芝加哥大學和哈佛大學統(tǒng)計系任教。2004年，孟曉犁出任哈佛大學統(tǒng)計系主任，成為哈佛大學首位出任系主任的、來自中國大陸的學者。

孟曉犁多次返回母校復旦大學，并為在復旦與哈佛間加強學術交流與全面合作做出了巨大的努力。可是，他一直堅持說，自己仍是個復旦人，“這里是我事業(yè)起步的地方”，“那段時間正好是我成長發(fā)育的時候，所以我的文學、藝術方面的興趣愛好也是在這里培養(yǎng)的，很多人生觀也是這么確立的?！?/p>