The two Rice alumnae who were named the 2026 ASA Fellows, Yanxun Xu (left) and Rebecca Nugent (right)
Two Rice University alumnae, Yanxun Xu (Ph.D., 2013) and Rebecca Nugent (B.S., 1999), were named Fellows of the American Statistical Association (ASA) — the highest honor in statistics —for advancing the field and creating societal impact through exceptional research and leadership.
Founded in 1839, ASA is the world’s largest community of statisticians. Xu and Nugent were among 46 ASA Fellows elected this year. The 2026 Fellow class of the ASA will be honored during an awards ceremony at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM). The award ceremony and President's Address will take place on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston, MA.
“We are incredibly proud to celebrate Dr. Yanxun Xu and Dr. Rebecca Nugent on this well-deserved and prestigious honor,” said Judy Wang, William Marsh Rice Trustee Professor in Data Science and chair of the Department of Statistics. “As distinguished Rice alumnae, they truly exemplify the excellence and passion for using statistics for societal impact that we strive to cultivate in our students.”
Xu, a professor of applied mathematics and statistics and the Joseph and Suzanne Jenniches Faculty Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, was recognized for her fundamental contributions to Bayesian and applied statistics, leadership in interdisciplinary research, and the impact of her work on medicine, public health, and clinical research. Working at the intersection of statistics, biomedical science, and artificial intelligence (AI), she has developed statistical tools to analyze complex, large-scale, heterogeneous clinical data and understand how treatments affect patient outcomes. One of her recent projects involved the development of a cost-effective and efficient method to study the effects of HIV infection on brain function.
“As a Ph.D. student at Rice, I had the unique opportunity to enroll in several clinical courses and build close research collaborations with clinicians and biomedical researchers at various Texas Medical Center institutions,” Xu said. “This early exposure to clinical research shaped my research interests and built a strong foundation for my interdisciplinary research program.”
Xu’s collaborations with clinicians, biologists, and engineers have shaped her clinical study designs, strengthened evidence generation, and informed the clinical and policy changes she has advocated for globally.
“Being named an American Statistical Association Fellow is a deeply meaningful honor,” Xu added. “It recognizes not only my individual work but also the collaborative efforts of colleagues, students, and interdisciplinary partners who have shaped my research. I see it as both a milestone and a responsibility to continue advancing statistical and data science in ways that have real-world impact.”
Nugent, the Feinberg University Professor and head of the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University, was recognized for her outstanding work in statistics and data science research and education. In this role, she is heavily involved in building fundamental statistical methodologies and tools to analyze big data problems for real-world applications and in leading the development of several educational and workforce programs to nurture the next generation of data scientists.
Nugent serves on the senior management team for the National Science Foundation’s AI Institute for Societal Decision-Making, which uses AI to analyze big data in real-time to allocate resources and deploy personnel to disaster zones while studying AI’s broader impact on fields such as agriculture, public health, and disaster management. She is also the principal investigator of SCORE (Sports content for OutReach and Education) Network, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation that partners with professional sports teams or broadcasters like ESPN to use sports analytics to improve statistics and data science education and student engagement. In addition, she founded the Statistics & Data Science Corporate Capstone program, an experiential learning initiative that connects faculty and students with data science challenges in industry, non-profits, and government organizations.
“I found my life’s purpose at Rice. While studying mathematics and Spanish as a student-athlete, I discovered a passion for statistics,” Nugent said. “With Rice faculty’s support and encouragement, I decided to pursue a graduate degree, which led me to a fun, wonderful, and fulfilling career in statistics, data science, and AI. I am very honored to be named a Fellow and grateful to ASA for recognizing my contributions and service to the field.”