Ivan Ramler

Ivan Ramler, Associate Professor of Statistics

I am grew up in rural Minnesota in an area very similar to the North Country (i.e., really cold and with more farm animals than people!). Although neither of my parents went to college (and, unfortunately, my father dropped out of high school – which he certainly regretted), both my mother and father were very supportive of my brother and I attending university. I knew I was good at school, but I didn’t know much about what I wanted to do in college or where I wanted to go. Thankfully I somehow picked a great school in the University of Minnesota – Morris (a small public liberal arts schools in a even more rural part of Minnesota) and, in 2002, I graduated with my B.A. while majoring in Mathematics & Statistics.

Reflecting on my college years, I can say there were numerous instances where being a first generation student has defined me. While an undergraduate, I never really knew what to do other than take my classes as no one in my family (except maybe my older brother) knew what to do with a degree in Math and Stats. Luckily, I had some wonderful professors (Drs. Engin Sungar and Jon Anderson) that recognized my potential and encouraged me to apply to summer research programs. As I wasn’t sure what else to do during my summers, I took their advice, participated in a summer research program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (in a program very similar to the SLU Fellowship) and ended up loving it! This made me interested in pursuing graduate school and, after graduating from UMN-Morris, I earned my Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University in 2008. Since then I’m found my home at SLU teaching Statistics and Data Science!

My fond memories of my own professors have helped shape me as a professor too. For example, I actively try to mentor summer research projects and have worked with many first-generation students affiliated with the LAS Scholars, McNair Scholars, CSTEP, and the SLU Fellowship programs. Many of my students work on statistics and data science projects related to entertainment – with applications to esports, television & movies, sports, and literature. If something like this sounds interesting to you, feel free to contact me to chat!