Louisiana Tech College of Business professor Dr. James J. Cochran will give the plenary presentation at the 55^th Conference of The South African Statistical Association this week in Polokwane, Limpopo Province.

Cochran is the Bank of Ruston, Barnes, Thompson, and Thurman Endowed Research Professor and professor of quantitative analysis.

The SASA and the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at the University of Limpopo-Turfloop Campus hosted the conference.

This is the first time that a historically disadvantaged university will host a SASA Conference. The SASA and University of Limpopo are using this conference to enhance the quality of learning for their students and open doors in the University of Limpopo’s efforts to establish further collaborative partnerships with other institutions of higher learning and industry.

“As the University of Limpopo began preparation to host the prepared South African Statistical Association’s 55th annual conference, the first expert that came into mind to be invited to give a plenary talk was Professor James Cochran of Louisiana Tech University,” said Maseka Lesaoana, 2013 SASA conference chair. “How many speakers can you find who are highly regarded for research in two disciplines?”

Lesaoana said Cochran has had a great impact on the region based on previous presentations given in 2010 and 2011.

Lesaoana said the purpose of the SASA Conference is to increase the public’s awareness of the impact of statistics on all levels of society, particularly among young people, by promoting statistics as a profession. Written by Reggie Owens – regowens@latech.edu