Frederi G. Viens

Frederi G. Viens holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California, Irvine (1996), and a Maîtrise de Mathématiques Pures from the Université de Paris 7, France (1991). As Professor and Chair of Statistics and Probability at Michigan State University, USA, he is a lifelong learner. He directs the Actuarial Science program, and is adjunct director of Statistical Consulting. He was previously a Professor of Statistics and Mathematics at Purdue University, Indiana, USA (2000-2015); Program Director in the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA, USA (2015-2016); Co-Chair for Pure Mathematics for Canada’s National Science and Engineering Research Council (2011-2012); Science Advisor for the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in Washington DC, USA (2010-2011), and held positions in Spain, France, Texas, and Chile, in teaching and research roles.

Viens strives to learn via collaborative research in as many fields as possible. He is the author of over 70 research papers on probability theory, stochastic analysis, and statistics for stochastic processes, with applications in finance, insurance, climatology, hydrology, agricultural economics, development economics, soil science, nuclear physics, and human health management. Some of his current emphases are to give investment and risk-management recommendations to insurance companies, and to use computational Bayesian statistics tools in a variety of applied problems. He pursues a robust interest in scientific capacity development in Africa, and is strongly motivated by global agro-environmental sustainability.