Statistics is described as the heart of the scientific method — a powerful, flexible tool with wide-ranging potential impact and application that draws on past experience to predict future outcomes.
When C. Shane Reese walked across the Reed Arena stage to accept his doctoral degree in statistics from Texas A&M University in 1999, he had no way of knowing he would one day become the 14th president of Brigham Young University, effective May 1. And although his Ph.D. mentor, Texas A&M Professor Emeritus of Statistics Dr. James Calvin, may have been a bit light on the specifics back then, he was confident Reese was more than game for any eventual opportunities or challenges life would throw at him.
“Shane Reese was always destined to be a leader,” Calvin said. “It was clear he was a good listener and engaging from very early in his graduate career.”
Reese has been a member of BYU’s faculty since 2001, when he joined the Department of Statistics as a professor with expertise in Bayesian statistics, which uses probability distributions to represent uncertainties in instances where quantities are unknown or undefined. After amassing accolades such as the Young Scholar Award and the Karl G. Maser Excellence in Teaching Award during his 16 years in the department, Reese went on to serve as the dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in 2017.
Two years later, Reese was appointed as BYU’s Academic Vice President, serving under President Kevin J Worthen. Following Worthen’s release from his position earlier this year, BYU announced that the vice president would be his successor.
“Sometimes people inherit a ship that's off course, or they inherit a ship that's broken, or they inherit a ship that's sinking — that's probably the worst ship to inherit,” Reese said. “I'm inheriting a ship that was in great shape because my predecessor was an amazing president.”
Reese is set to be installed as BYU’s 14th president during a September 19 devotional assembly in the BYU Marriott Center that will be broadcast live on byutv.org. Among his goals for his future as president is the constant and consistent emphasis of the university’s mission statement, which focuses heavily on human potential and the quest for perfection, all while reflecting BYU’s religious affiliation.
“We take a unique approach to what we call belonging on this campus, which our religious mission allows us to talk about in a different way than other institutions can talk about it,” Reese said.
For the new BYU president, aiding students on their paths to success by reinforcing the importance of the enrichment of our academic mission by simultaneously leaning into our religious mission is one of the most critical facets of his new position.
“My favorite part is being with students — it’s why I got into academia, and that is for sure the highlight,” Reese said.
Reese’s dedication to the world of academia began in the fall of 1989, when he arrived at BYU’s campus as a freshman and first-generation college student. After earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics from the university in 1995 and meeting his future wife on campus, he made the move from Provo, Utah, to College Station, Texas, to pursue his Ph.D. in the Texas A&M Department of Statistics.
While BYU and Texas A&M each provided Reese with transformative experiences that prepared him for his future in research and education, he describes his time in Aggieland as pivotal to the success he has reached today.
“From my first-year courses all the way to the last courses I took, all of my faculty members demonstrated their commitment to statistics and their commitment to trying to forward science in important, meaningful ways,” Reese said. “That’s one thing that was so different about my A&M experience that might have been changed, had I gone somewhere else.”
Between teaching at Texas A&M as a graduate student, his first job at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing nuclear weapons research and his ongoing tenure at BYU, Reese credits his time at A&M for setting the standard that he continues to maintain.
“I believe that universities are set up to teach and educate young minds,” Reese said. “That’s part of what makes it exciting to me, so I was grateful for the example of my faculty members at A&M in doing that."
Not only was his Texas A&M experience meaningful in terms of his future endeavors, Reese says he also made lifelong friends while he was in College Station.
“The day I was appointed president, the first three people who sent me a congratulations are people that are not at BYU — they were friends of mine from A&M,” Reese said. “That sense of connectedness is something that I witnessed firsthand, and it's something that I try to talk about and implement here at BYU now.”
Among the close friends that he made at Texas A&M was Professor Emeritus of Statistics Jeffrey D. Hart, who said it was no surprise to him that Reese was appointed as BYU’s next president.
“He certainly has the academic and personal qualities that I think are essential to being an outstanding administrator,” Hart said. “I’m sure that if you talk to those closest to him, they’ll tell you that no one has ever had a more loyal or supportive friend — he’s one of the most likable and friendly persons I’ve ever met.”
From Reese’s experience on campus when the Aggie Bonfire collapsed to the birth of his two oldest daughters, his time in College Station made a lasting impact on him in terms of his career and his personal life. Moving forward, he hopes to do the same for every student and faculty member who comes and goes during his time as president of BYU.
“It’s easy to take the leadership of an institution when you buy into its mission and you love it,” Reese said. “For me, it all starts with family.”