Morris Named Chair of Statistics

Max Morris was named chair of the Department of Statistics in November, making it the second Iowa State department he has led. He got practice serving as interim chair of industrial management systems engineering. His background is primarily in the physical sciences and engineering.

Designing experiments is his research specialty. “The importance of experimental design is fully understood in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences because that’s a big piece of what happens in the collaborations with ag faculty,” he says. Morris calls work for CALS an “integral part” of the statistics department, which is co-administered with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Morris joined Iowa State 15 years ago, after a stint at the Oakridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy facility in Tennessee. Morris “grew up” at land grants, with an undergraduate degree at Oklahoma State University  and graduate degrees at Virginia Tech. Read more at www.stories.cals.iastate.edu.