Robinson Named Director of Data Science, Receives Inaugural Award for Helping Students Succeed in Statistics

Samantha Robinson, teaching assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has been named director of the new Data Science Program at the U of A for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.   

 The Data Science Program offers a unique joint degree made up of courses from Fulbright College, as well as the College of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton College of Business. 

 In this role, Robinson will work with colleagues across the college to create new courses and student experiences – such as a data ethics course that was recently taught by the Department of Philosophy. She will also work with her director counterparts in our colleague colleges to expand the program and the opportunities it provides. 

 “We’re so excited to have Samantha take on this new role, she’s exceptionally well-suited for it,” said Todd Shields, dean of Fulbright College. “She excels in motivating students and helping them reach their potential. And in this role, she’ll help these scholars learn to use data analysis for everything – from research to healthcare, to informed decision-making – which is a skillset that can change lives for the better in Arkansas and around the world.” 

 Shields said Robinson is a student success “superstar,” who was inducted into the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy in spring 2021, and received the Fulbright College Master Teaching Award in 2020. 

 Most recently, in August, Robinson was also recognized on a national level as the inaugural winner of the 2021 Mu Sigma Rho Early Career Undergraduate Impact Award for making significant contributions to the success of undergraduate students in statistics.  

 Mu Sigma Rho is the U.S. national honorary society for statistics, established to promote and encourage scholarly activity in statistics and is affiliated with the American Statistical Association. 

 The Mu Sigma Rho Statistical Education Award for Junior Faculty is specifically given in recognition of a faculty member who is early in their career, are not yet tenured and/or might be in a non-tenure-track position, who has made significant contributions to the success of undergraduate students in statistics. 

 Robinson will be the very first recipient of this newly established Mu Sigma Rho Award, which was presented virtually at the American Statistical Association’s 2021 Joint Statistical Meetings, the largest gathering of statisticians held in North America.  

 As an instructor, Robinson serves as Course Coordinator for all sections of Principles of Statistics (STAT 2303) and Biostatistics (STAT 2823), which have an annual student enrollment of approximately 1,500-1,700 students. 

 While Robinson teaches large sections (of about 150 students each) herself, she is known as a caring professor who “genuinely wants [every student] to do well,” is concerned about individual student success both in and out of the classroom, and simply “goes above and beyond for her students” to make statistics relevant, understandable and “surprisingly fun.” 

 In recent years, Robinson also led groups of student researchers to the Arkansas Bioinformatics Consortium (AR-BIC), including the Special Virtual AR-BIC Seminar: Data Science Solutions for COVID-19. This supervised statistical research has resulted in publications, oral presentations, poster presentations, and numerous awards for these student researchers. 

 Robinson, now a member of the AR-BIC scientific programming committee, also works directly with the ARA to engage students and provide opportunities for undergraduate researchers in the state, connecting these young researchers with leaders in industry, government, and academia. 

 Additionally, Robinson wrote the newly approved learning objectives for the Arkansas Course Transfer System (ACTS) MATH 2103 course, renamed ‘Principles of Statistics’, as it is equivalent to our U of A Principles of Statistics course. Two-year and four-year colleges across the state will now follow the lead of the U of A and of Robinson in teaching their own introductory statistics courses. 

Her recent publication in Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (PRIMUS), describes in some detail the unique sequencing of topics and curriculum she has implemented so that other institutions of higher education can also follow her lead.