The Poetry of Numbers

If the field of statistics ever needed a cheerleader, it need look no further than Dr. Bani Mallick. The Texas A&M University Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor and Susan M. Arseven ’75 Chair in Data Science and Computational Statistics stepped into the role of department head in January. He brings with him a boundless enthusiasm for the discipline, a willingness to embrace change and a determination to make the department’s research more interdisciplinary, more accessible and more widely known.

Those efforts begin with a fundamental belief: statisticians are not just mathematicians — they are storytellers.

“Everybody needs mathematics,” Mallick said. “It’s a tool. It’s a language. But statistics involves the special skill of presenting yourself through numbers. Some people are particularly good at English — they can recite poetry. The statistician, on the other hand, speaks and writes poems with numbers.”

When he took the helm of Texas A&M’s statistics department on Jan. 1, 2026, Mallick — a member of the Texas A&M statistics faculty since 1998 — planned to put effective communication skills at the forefront of his efforts for students and faculty alike.

Dr. Brani Vidakovick, professor and current department head, is pleased to hand over the helm to Mallick, whose experience and forward-looking approach will guide the department into its next chapter. Vidakovic, who joined Texas A&M as department head in August 2000, is holder of the H.O. Hartley Chair in Statistics. Previously, he was program director for statistics at the National Science Foundation and a professor at Georgia Tech and Duke Universities. 

“With his boundless enthusiasm and clear vision for the future of statistics, Bani is poised to be a fantastic department head, and I wish him every success.”

The research findings of the department’s statisticians are often of tremendous value, he said, but too frequently, their work takes place in a vacuum. Encouraging Texas A&M statisticians to not only publicize their research, but to do so in a way that those outside the field can understand, is vital not only to bettering society, but to attracting more attention to the department. 

“Mathematicians and statisticians, they’re not aggressive like engineers or doctors,” Mallick said. “They do impressive things, but they hide in their shells. Somebody needs to break those shells so that they come out and tell the world what they’re doing.” 

In today’s evidence-based society, numbers are part of our daily lives, Mallick noted. Analyzed and expressed honestly, they present reliable stories. But when these same numbers are inflated or presented in a misleading way, they tell the wrong stories, whether intentional or not. Statisticians, then, are not only charged with explaining information through numbers, but they also shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that the stories their numbers tell are straightforward and accurate.

The work of statisticians must also be presented in a way that those outside the field can understand. 

“If I say something like, ‘You are drinking orange juice, so that's reducing your cancer threefold times,’ everyone will pay attention,” Mallick explained. “But if I say, ‘The odds ratio is 3,’ nobody will understand me.” 

Mallick is one of those rare individuals who is not only unafraid of change but energized by it. His personality fits a field that refuses to remain stagnant and instead repeatedly rises to meet the challenges posed by societal and technological demands.

Foundational statistics — the field studied by most of the department’s roughly 250 undergraduates — is, of course, essential to gaining a firm grasp of the discipline. But as early as the 1960s, the growing demand for data gave rise to a new field that merged foundational statistics with computer science: data science. Today, statistical algorithms used in data mining help Amazon manage inventory, guide Netflix’s programming decisions and even inform petroleum engineers where to drill.

At Texas A&M, 42 on-campus graduate students are pursuing Master of Science degrees in statistical data science, joined by approximately 300 distance-learning students earning the same degree online. The Department of Statistics is also an integral partner in Texas A&M’s multidisciplinary Master of Science in data science program.

A more recent addition to the department’s offerings is a second undergraduate degree: a multidisciplinary Bachelor of Science in bioinformatics. This rapidly growing field adds biology as a third focus to the dual data science foundations of statistics and computer science. Students majoring in bioinformatics often pursue careers as computational biologists, data scientists, bioinformaticians and researchers in the life sciences, biotechnology and health care.

As the bioinformatics program takes root, Texas A&M’s College of Arts and Sciences is also taking on the emerging force of artificial intelligence.

Mallick is leading the charge.

He said the college is uniquely positioned to study artificial intelligence at a foundational level. It is here that scholars can examine language and large language models, define what is human and what is artificial, explore the nature of intelligence itself and conduct essential experimentation. At the same time, the college’s scientists, mathematicians and statisticians can focus on AI’s applied dimensions.

Texas A&M’s College of Engineering already offers extensive research and academic programs centered on AI algorithms, Mallick said. “But we need to go much deeper. Perhaps we can create a large institute where English professors, philosophers, statisticians, brain scientists and others can sit together and think deeply about this field.”

Mallick is a fervent believer in the power of collaboration. In one of his latest research endeavors, for example, he is leading a study that looks at the impact of circadian rhythm disruptions on women’s health. The study involves Texas A&M researchers from both the statistics and biology departments. 

New York-based consultant Dr. Ersen Arseven ’74, a Texas A&M doctoral graduate in statistics, praised Mallick’s eagerness to work across disciplines as one of his most defining qualities.
  
“I have great respect and admiration for what Dr. Mallick has been able to accomplish alone and together with his colleagues not only from different disciplines, but also different colleges within Texas A&M,” he said. “He is one of those rare scientists with a very open mind who strives to work with everybody.” 

In 2015, Mallick was named the inaugural holder of the chair created by Arseven in memory of his wife, Susan ’75. Susan Arseven received her Texas A&M doctorate in computer science and became a pioneer in information technology strategy. 

As further proof of Mallick’s desire to work with and learn from others, Arseven pointed to his successful effort to bring multiyear National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to Texas A&M when he was named director and principle investigator of Phase 1 of the Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science Institute—an endeavor involving universities around the world. 

Widely regarded as a pioneer in Bayesian nonparametric regression and classification, Mallick is also director of Texas A&M’s Center for Statistical Bioinformatics. His long list of awards and honors includes a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Statistical Association, and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, as well as membership in the International Statistical Institute. He is also co-editor-in-chief of the international SIAM/ASA Journal on Uncertainty Quantification. 

In 2006, The Association of Former Students of Texas A&M recognized Mallick with a Distinguished Achievement Award in Research. Just as meaningful to him, however, was a second honor in 2019, this time recognizing his excellence in graduate mentoring. As a professor, Mallick feels responsible not only for advancing his own research, but also for ensuring that the next generation of statisticians finds even greater opportunities and success.

Arhit Chakrabarti, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in statistics, is one of 78 Texas A&M students pursuing a doctoral degree in the field. He said Mallick’s mentorship has shaped both his intellectual and personal growth as a researcher and has influenced the way he hopes to relate to his own students and colleagues one day — an approach grounded in genuine concern and encouragement.

“Dr. Mallick’s remarkable ability to connect people and ideas at the right time, along with his openness to listening to my ideas — even the naïve ones — has profoundly influenced how I approach research problems, think independently and communicate freely with collaborators and colleagues,” Chakrabarti said. “Despite being a University Distinguished Professor, he has always been approachable, taking the time to check in on my well-being and offering guidance on both academic and personal matters.”

With AI-related developments happening at breakneck speed and other technological developments on the ever-closer horizon, Mallick will be leading Texas A&M’s statistics department at a critical juncture in the field. 

 He couldn’t be more delighted. 

 “Statistics, with time, is becoming more and more important,” he said excitedly. 

 Texas A&M’s statistics program faces the challenge of keeping up with rapid developments as it prepares its students for data-based fortune telling. With the ability to collect and analyze data, statistics graduates can predict the effectiveness of a new drug, the likelihood of severe weather, or even the behavior of the stock market. 

 “All these bright Texan kids graduating with statistics knowledge will change the world,” Mallick said.