Keynote Speaker: Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar
                                  RAND Corporation

Title: Statistics in Public Policy

Public policy is at the heart of national debate.  The role of statisticians in public policy is to conduct research that meets the highest standards of quality and objectivity, while addressing issues critical to the national policy agenda.  The research findings are disseminated widely to the public and decision makers, so that they can inform the debate on both sides.  When the evidence from the research is sufficiently compelling, it can also contribute to significant changes in policy and practice.  RAND is a private, nonprofit research institution, founded in 1946 and considered this nation's original "think tank".   RAND's mission is to improve policy and decision making through the use of research and analysis.  The Statistics Group at RAND is a vibrant community, valued for its statistical skills and substantive knowledge.   It is one of many disciplines in a large, collaborative research setting.  I will talk about my experiences as a statistician at RAND and as chair of the Health Policy statistics section, describe several interesting applications of statistics to policy problems, and offer advice about career opportunities in this arena.

"The RAND Corporation, America's original think tank, earns its money fishing truths out of murky political and social waters. The quantitative conscience of RAND, often the final arbiter of what constitutes the true story, is its small but powerful Statistics Group." Bradley Efron, Stanford University, from the Foreword to Public Policy and Statistics: Case Studies from RAND, Springer-Verlag, 2000