T. Tony Cai
Encyclopedia
T. Tony Cai (born March, 1967), is a Chinese
statistician
. He is the current Dorothy Silberberg Professor and Professor of Statistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
. He is the winner of 2008 COPSS Presidents' Award
.
, large-scale multiple testing
, nonparametric function estimation
, functional data analysis
, inference for discrete distributions, and statistical decision theory, with applications to compressed sensing
, chemical identification
, medical imaging
and microarray data analysis.
, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China
. In 1986, Cai graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Hangzhou University
(previous and current Zhejiang University
) when he was only 18 years old. In 1989, Cai received MSc from Shanghai Jiao Tong University
. Cai earned PhD from Cornell University
in 1996.
Cai has been appointed the Dorothy Silberberg Professor at he Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
effective July 1, 2007
Tony Cai was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
in 2006.
Cai received the 2008 COPSS Presidents' Award
2008, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies
In 2009, Cai was named the Medallion Lecturer at the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
.
Cai has four brothers and one sister. His sister Tianxi Cai is also working on statistics
, and is an associate professor of biostatistics at Harvard University
. His brother Tianwu Michael Cai, majored in physics
(PhD, Rochester) is a vice-president of Goldman Sachs
.
Tony Cai is a member of the editorial board of the journal Annals of Statistics
. He has also served on editorial boards of the journals Statistics Surveys
, Statistica Sinica and Journal of the American Statistical Association
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
statistician
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
. He is the current Dorothy Silberberg Professor and Professor of Statistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
. He is the winner of 2008 COPSS Presidents' Award
COPSS Presidents' Award
The COPSS Presidents' Award is given annually by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies to a person under the age of 40, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics...
.
Research
Cai's research interests include high-dimensional inferenceHigh-dimensional statistics
In statistical theory, the field of high-dimensional statistics studies data whose dimension is larger than dimensions considered in classical multivariate analysis. High-dimensional statistics relies on the theory of random vectors...
, large-scale multiple testing
Multiple comparisons
In statistics, the multiple comparisons or multiple testing problem occurs when one considers a set of statistical inferences simultaneously. Errors in inference, including confidence intervals that fail to include their corresponding population parameters or hypothesis tests that incorrectly...
, nonparametric function estimation
Kernel (statistics)
A kernel is a weighting function used in non-parametric estimation techniques. Kernels are used in kernel density estimation to estimate random variables' density functions, or in kernel regression to estimate the conditional expectation of a random variable. Kernels are also used in time-series,...
, functional data analysis
Functional data analysis
Functional data analysis is a branch of statistics that analyzes data providing information about curves, surfaces or anything else varying over a continuum...
, inference for discrete distributions, and statistical decision theory, with applications to compressed sensing
Compressed sensing
Compressed sensing, also known as compressive sensing, compressive sampling and sparse sampling, is a technique for finding sparse solutions to underdetermined linear systems...
, chemical identification
Microanalysis
Microanalysis is the chemical identification and quantitative analysis of very small amounts of chemical substances or very small surfaces of material...
, medical imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...
and microarray data analysis.
Career
Cai was born in Rui'an, WenzhouWenzhou
Wenzhou is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. The area under its jurisdiction, which includes two satellite cities and six counties, had a population of 9,122,100 as of 2010....
, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. In 1986, Cai graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Hangzhou University
Hangzhou University
Since 1998, Hangzhou University has been a part of Zhejiang University....
(previous and current Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University , sometimes referred to as Zheda, is a national university in China. Founded in 1897, Zhejiang University is one of China's oldest institutions of higher education...
) when he was only 18 years old. In 1989, Cai received MSc from Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
. Cai earned PhD from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1996.
Cai has been appointed the Dorothy Silberberg Professor at he Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
effective July 1, 2007
Tony Cai was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Institute of Mathematical Statistics
The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts of the world...
in 2006.
Cai received the 2008 COPSS Presidents' Award
COPSS Presidents' Award
The COPSS Presidents' Award is given annually by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies to a person under the age of 40, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics...
2008, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies
In 2009, Cai was named the Medallion Lecturer at the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Institute of Mathematical Statistics
The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts of the world...
.
Cai has four brothers and one sister. His sister Tianxi Cai is also working on statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, and is an associate professor of biostatistics at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. His brother Tianwu Michael Cai, majored in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
(PhD, Rochester) is a vice-president of Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
.
Tony Cai is a member of the editorial board of the journal Annals of Statistics
Annals of Statistics
The Annals of Statistics is a peer-reviewed statistics journal published by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. It was started in 1973 as a continuation in part of the Annals of Mathematical Statistics, which was split into the Annals of Statistics and the Annals of Probability.Articles older...
. He has also served on editorial boards of the journals Statistics Surveys
Statistics Surveys
Statistics Surveys is an open-access electronic journal that is jointly sponsored by the American Statistical Association, the Bernoulli Society, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the Statistical Society of Canada. It publishes review articles on topics of interest in statistics....
, Statistica Sinica and Journal of the American Statistical Association
Journal of the American Statistical Association
The Journal of the American Statistical Association is the most prestigious journal published by the American Statistical Association, the main professional body for statisticians in the United States...
.
Honors and awards
- COPSS Presidents' AwardCOPSS Presidents' AwardThe COPSS Presidents' Award is given annually by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies to a person under the age of 40, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics...
2008, Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. - Fellow, Institute of Mathematical StatisticsInstitute of Mathematical StatisticsThe Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts of the world...
, 2006.