Elizabeth A. Thompson: One paragraph bio

Elizabeth A. Thompson is a professor in the Department of Statistics, and adjunct professor in the departments of Biostatistics and of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, and is Director of an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate program in Statistical Genetics. She received her B.A. in mathematics and Ph.D. in mathematical statistics from Cambridge University, UK and then did postdoctoral work in the Department of Genetics, Stanford University, before taking up a position on the faculty of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, University of Cambridge in 1976. She joined the faculty of the University of Washington in December 1985, as a professor of statistics, where she served as Chair 1989-1994, and again 2011-2014. Dr. Thompson's research is in the development of methods for model-based likelihood inference from genetic data, particularly from data observed on large and complex pedigree structures both of humans and of other species, and including inference of relationships among individuals and among populations. Her research funding includes an NIH award initiated in 1991, which has been an R37 MERIT award since 2008. Dr. Thompson is a recipient of a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Cambridge, the Jerome Sacks award for cross-disciplinary research from the National Institute for Statistical Science, the Weldon Prize for contributions to Biometric Science from Oxford University, UK, and of a Guggenheim fellowship. She has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Banff International Research Station, and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. She has also served on the National Research Council Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, on the Committee to Review the Scientific Approaches used during the FBI's investigation of the 2001 Anthrax letters, and is a current member of the Board of Mathematical Sciences and Analytics. She is currently (2019-2020) Immediate Past President of the International Biometric Society, having previously served as President (2016-2017) and on committees of the Society, including 8 years as a member of Council. Dr. Thompson is an honorary fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Sciences.