This interview is with Jessica Utts, Professor Emeritus of Statistics. She came to UC Davis in 1978 to become a founding member of the Division of Statistics. After 30 years at UCD she moved to UC Irvine, where she spent 10 years before retiring in 2018.
Her research involves applications of statistics to a variety of areas, most notably parapsychology, for which she has appeared on TV shows including Larry King Live, Nightline and CNN News. She has a long-standing interest in promoting statistical literacy, and has published three statistics textbooks with that emphasis.
While at UCD she served in many leadership roles including Associate Vice Provost for University Outreach, Director of the Davis Honors Challenge, Chair of the Women’s Studies Program, and Vice Chair of the Academic Senate. She served as Chair of the UC Irvine Statistics Department for 5 years, and under her leadership the department created an undergraduate major in Data Science, the first in the UC system and one of the first in the world. Most recently Jessica has been appointed as the Survey Coordinator for the triennial survey of the continuing contributions of all UC emeriti.
Jessica is interviewed by her friend and colleague, Martha West, Professor Emerita of Law.
