DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

Biography

Sandy Zabell received his PhD in mathematics in 1974 from Harvard University. After an Assistant Professorship in the Department of Statistics in the University of Chicago and visiting positions at Rutgers and UC Berkeley, Zabell joined the faculty of the Northwestern Mathematics Department in 1980. Since 1986 he has also held a joint appointment with the Department of Statistics (now Statistics and Data Science).

Zabell’s research interests include mathematical probability (including large deviations and exchangeability), forensic science (especially DNA identification evidence), and history (most recently the use of mathematics in cryptography during WII).

Zabell is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.  In 2017 he was elected a Fellow of the International Statistical Institute. In recognition of his teaching, he received a Northwestern Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992.