
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Announcement
It is with a heavy heart that we bring you this saddest news. Walter Richard Young passed away on Friday, 2/11/22, at age 83, surrounded by family at home, after a brief but intense battle with brain cancer. He is survived by his loving wife, Lolita, and his three children, Walter Albert, Peter, and Katie.
Walter Richard Young passed away on Friday, 2/11/22, surrounded by family at home, after a brief but intense battle with brain cancer.
Walter’s viewing and memorial prayer service will be held this Thursday, 2/17/22, from 9 to 10:30 AM EST at the Jerome Cassizzi Funeral Home 2915 E Thompson St, Philadelphia, PA 19134
Immediately following the memorial service will be an interment atSt Gertrude’s Cemetery, starting at about 12:15pm. The cemetery address is 53 Inman Ave, Colonia, NJ 07067.
Walter proudly dedicated over 50 years to serving the ASQ/ ASQC and 52 years Deming Conference. He counted being Deming Committee Chairman as one of his life’s greatest achievements.
Walter has made significant contributions in organizing the Annual Deming Conference on Applied Statistics. He will be deeply missed by all of us and statisticians’ fraternity.
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For the first time in its 78-year history, the conference is leaving the state of New Jersey. Admittedly it is only a baby step in crossing the Delaware but when General Washington did it on Christmas Day of 1776, it changed the course of the Revolution and our nation. We are moving from our stodgy secure encampment in Atlantic City to the Philly Sonesta, which is an extremely centrally located, 25 story modern hotel ( www.sonesta.com/us/pennsylvania/philadelphia/sonesta-philadelphia-rittenhouse-square ) at 18th and Market. There is excellent (albeit pricey) parking within the building. We recommend public transportation over driving, but we will offer some creative solutions to offset the pricey parking.
One can walk diagonally across the street to a Suburban Station entrance and take a frequent Septa train for $6.75 and exit by the baggage counter of every PHL terminal. The Sonesta is extremely easy to access via Septa, Amtrak, PATCO, Megabus and Greyhound. One can buy a Septa convenience pass ($9 for 1 day, $18 for 3 days) and get on any bus, subway, or trolley to easily access every major Philly attraction, including the free ones in Independence Square and the nearby Rivers Casino on the riverfront.
One can easily walk to the Christmas Village at City Hall, Chinatown, a myriad of restaurants within a couple of blocks, and the somewhat macabre Mutter Museum. (The latter is somewhat unsuitable for children, but it fascinated my kids during their misspent youth.) Consider bringing your family for a mini vacation as our Sonesta rate is valid for both surrounding weekends. If you’re a football fan, the Army Navy game is the Saturday after the conference. If you’ve never been to Philly, attending our conference is a must even without our usual superb program that I’m sure we’ll have. Stay safe and healthy
– Walter R. Young Conference Chair
The conference was first held under the auspices of the Planning And Statistics Division of the War Production Board at Princeton University in December 1945, with one of the participants being Dr. W. Edwards Deming. The War Board held another meeting in December 1946. Then the conference was renamed the Princeton Conference and held annually at Princeton University.
The Metropolitan Section of the ASA first sponsored it. In the early fifties, sponsorship was transferred to the Metropolitan Section of the ASQ. In 1971, the Biopharmaceutical Section of the ASA and in 1979 the Statistics Division of the ASQ assumed cosponsorship.
For the first 25 years, members of the Statistics Department of Princeton University were heavily involved in its organization, in particular, Professor J. Stuart Hunter. In 1970, its chair was assumed by Walter R. Young who has held it ever since. Before, Mr. Young assumed the chairmanship, the conference started after lunch on Friday and ended after lunch on Saturday
The conference then steadily grew in attendance and length. Book sales and tutorials based on recently published texts started in 1976. The conference had a peak attendance of 476 in 1977 and assumed its present all tutorial and 2 two-day short course format in 1979. In 1979, due to its size, the conference was transferred to Villanova University for one year and then held at Newark Airport for five years. It was moved to its current site in Atlantic City in 1985.
Dr. Deming spoke at the conference on numerous occasions. In 1980, the conference established the Deming Medal, which was awarded at the conference to outstanding statisticians and quality control practitioners for the next 17 years. The awarding of the medal was then transferred to the ASQ. Dr Deming gave the conference’s keynote address in 13 of these years. He died immediately after the conference in 1993. The conference was named in his honor the following year.
Prof. Stuart Hunter was invited as a keynote speaker at the 68th (2012) Deming Conference. He gave an excellent talk about the history of the Deming Conference. His presentation slides are available here. Walter Young wrote an excellent article about the conference history, Some Non-statistical Reminiscences of My 50 Years of Chairing the Deming Conference.
For a list of speakers and committee members at the past Deming Conferences, click here
The purpose of the 3-day Deming Conference on Applied Statistics is to provide a learning experience on recent developments in statistical methodologies in biopharmaceutical applications. The conference is composed of twelve three-hour tutorials on current topics in applied biopharmaceutical statistics and FDA regulations, and a one-hour distinguished keynote speaker on each of the 3 days of the conference. The books, on which these sessions are based, are available for sale at an approximately 40% discount. Attendees will receive hard copy program proceedings of the presentations.
The conference is sponsored by the American Statistical Association Biopharmaceutical Section. Walter Young has chaired this conference for 52 consecutive years. The program committee is composed of: Alfred Balch, Joseph Borden, Ivan Chan, (Din) Ding-Geng Chen, Kalyan Ghosh, Satish Laroia, Sofia Paul, Naitee Ting, Bill Wang, Wenjin Wang, Yibin Wang, Li-an Xu, Walter Young and Pinggao Zhang.
Online registration will open in August. For more information about the conference, please email Din Chen, Deming Publicity Chair, at din@demingconference.org or visit https://demingconference.org/.