Matt Wand
Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) 1986

Matt went to the Australian National University to undertake a PhD under highly-regarded statistical researcher Professor Peter Hall, before embarking on a stellar international academic career that included appointments in the United States at Texas A&M University, Rice University in Houston and a five-year stint as Associate Professor in Biostatistics at Harvard.

He is on the International Statistical Institute (ISI) Web of Knowledge list of highly cited researchers, and is currently Professor of Statistics at the University of NSW, where he also previously worked with the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM).

Professor Wand will soon return to his alma mater as a Research Professor of Statistics within the School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics. Professor Griffiths couldn’t be happier that Professor Wand is returning to the fold.

“Matt is a very highly regarded statistical researcher and a great addition to our School, which is becoming arguably the strongest statistical group in any Australian university,” Professor Griffiths said.

That is a far cry from the situation in 1986, when Professor Griffiths urged Wand to spread his wings.

“I’d just been appointed to UOW, and came down to meet my future colleagues,” Professor Griffiths said. “They told me a PhD student wanted a chat, and I met Matt who was then the only PhD student in the department. We talked about what he was doing, and I learned he’d never met another statistical researcher. He also told me he’d been offered a scholarship to do a PhD under Peter Hall at ANU, but hadn’t taken it up.”

“Peter has a great reputation and I considered it would be in Matt’s best interests to leave, so I rang Peter and asked if the scholarship was still available. The rest, as they say, is history. Matt was a huge success as a research student and has gone on to forge an international reputation. Having encouraged him to leave, I am personally delighted that he is coming back.”

Professor Wand, who grew up in Wollongong and attended Edmund Rice College, is also pleased to be returning “home”.

“I always appreciated the advice to leave Wollongong and establish myself as a researcher by rubbing shoulders with the best operators in my field,” he said. “Now the University has provided strong motivation for me to return. As an academic, I put research to the forefront. UOW is giving me the opportunity to play to my strong suit and devote most of my energy to research, so that has been a strong factor in my decision,” Professor Wand says.

“The University was very small when I left in 1986, and you tended to know everyone – or at least recognise the faces. It has obviously grown a lot since then, and I have certainly noticed the landscaping and how green it is. And I am looking forward to working with people who taught me, like Chandra Gulati and Ken Russell. It will be good to be back.”