American Statistical Association

The American Statistical Association (ASA) is a society for scientists, statisticians, and statistics consumers representing a wide range of science and education fields. Since its inception in November 1839, the ASA has aimed to provide both statistical science professionals and the public with a standard of excellence for statistics-related projects. According to ASA publications, the society's mission is “to promote excellence in the application of statistical science across the wealth of human endeavor.” Specifically, the ASA mission includes a dedication to excellence with regard to statistics in practice, research, and education; a desire to work toward bettering statistical education and the profession of statistics as a whole; a concern for recognizing and addressing the needs of ASA members; education about the proper uses of statistics; and the promotion of human welfare through the use of statistics.

Regarded as the second-oldest continuously operating professional association in the United States, the ASA has a rich history. In fact, within 2 years of its founding, the society already had a U.S. president—Martin Van Buren—among its members. Also on the list of the ASA's historical members are Florence Nightingale, Alexander Graham Bell, and Andrew Carnegie. The original founders, who united at the American Education Society in Boston to form the society, include U.S. Congressman Richard Fletcher; teacher and fundraiser William Cogswell; physician and medicine reformist John Dix Fisher; statistician, publisher, and distinguished public health author Lemuel Shattuck; and lawyer, clergyman, and poet Oliver Peabody. The founders named the new organization the American Statistical Society, a name that lasted only until the first official meeting in February 1840.

In its beginning years, the ASA developed a working relationship with the U.S. Census Bureau, offering recommendations and often lending its members as heads of the census. S. N. D. North, the 1910 president of the ASA, was also the first director of the permanent census office. The society, its membership, and its diversity in statistical activities grew rapidly after World War I as the employment of statistics in business and government gained popularity. At that time, large cities and universities began forming local chapters. By its 100th year in existence, the ASA had more members than it had ever had, and those involved with the society commemorated the [Page 20]centennial with celebrations in Boston and Philadelphia. However, by the time World War II was well under way, many of the benefits the ASA experienced from the post—World War I surge were reversed. For 2 years—1942 and 1943—the society was unable to hold annual meetings. Then, after World War II, as after World War I, the ASA saw a great expansion in both its membership and its applications to burgeoning science endeavors.

Today, ASA has expanded beyond the United States and can count 18,000 individuals as members. Its members, who represent 78 geographic locations, also have diverse interests in statistics. These interests range from finding better ways to teach statistics to problem solving for homelessness and from AIDS research to space exploration, among a wide array of applications. The society comprises 24 sections, including the following: Bayesian Statistical Science, Biometrics, Biopharmaceutical Statistics, Business and Economic Statistics, Government Statistics, Health Policy Statistics, Nonparametric Statistics, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Quality and Productivity, Risk Analysis, a section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts, Statistical Learning and Data Mining, Social Statistics, Statistical Computing, Statistical Consulting, Statistical Education, Statistical Graphics, Statistics and the Environment, Statistics in Defense and National Security, Statistics in Epidemiology, Statistics in Marketing, Statistics in Sports, Survey Research Methods, and Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences. Detailed descriptions of each section, lists of current officers within each section, and links to each section are available on the ASA Web site.

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