DR. REBECCA W. DOERGE WORKS TO DISSOLVE THE SILOS OF SCIENCE

HER RESEARCH PROGRAM, STATISTICAL BIOINFORMATICS, IS, BY ITS VERY NATURE, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PURSUIT TOWARDS ONE END—TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF DNA AND EPIGENOMIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Ditching the white-coat persona of the science professor, Rebecca Doerge beckons a broad diversity of interdisciplinary studies that cross pollinate data and research to usher in a new dawn of science that betters the world and those living in it. In her words, “Our vision for the future of science is one that brings together the foundational sciences with artificial intelligence, machine learning, engineering, data science and human ingenuity to solve real-world problems.”

From her helm as the Glen de Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science (MCS) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with a joint appointment between statistics/data science and biology, she recalls her time as an undergraduate and graduate student in the Department of Mathematics, College of Science at the University of Utah. At the outset, she allowed her personal interests to guide her through a series of choices that began her intrigue with interdisciplinary research and application. During the dawn of computer science in the 80s, Doerge thrived with the promise of career opportunities in programming. However, along the way she discovered her love of mathematics, so she changed her degree path.

Her MCS biography outlines her study of theoretical mathematics at the University of Utah where she got her foothold in applying the attributes of computing, mathematics, and statistics to exploring and ultimately understanding human genetics. Earning her B.S. in Mathematics from 1982 to 1986, she concluded at the U of U with a Master’s in Statistics from the

“ When I was first at the U of U (Fall 1982), freshman year, I took a Calculus class from Bruce Crauder (now at Oklahoma State University). I was first gen, didn’t know what I was doing, and certainly had no clue about titles and ranks of professors. Now, I realize that Bruce was a very new assistant professor, just starting. Long story short, I took a couple courses from Bruce. He is the first person to “ever” encourage me in math. One day, we were talking, and he asked me my plans. I told him I wasn’t sure and that I was thinking about switching to architecture (this was well before the genetics interest was found). I can tell you exactly where we were on campus (the giant rocks by the student union) and exactly what he said. He turned to me and said, ‘it would be a great loss to mathematics if you left’. Fast forward to the mid-2000’s. I was doing well at Purdue and had a different last name. I received an email from Oklahoma State University asking that I serve on an external review committee. The letter was signed by none other than Bruce Crauder!!! I looked him up, and it was the “same” Bruce Crauder from Utah who has so strongly influenced my education. Unfortunately, I was unable to serve on the committee due to a conflict, but I was able to thank him for the impact that he had on my life. What surprised me was that when I reached out to introduce myself to him... remember I had a different last name... and explain our connection, he remembered me! Amazing. Anyway, I will forever be grateful to Bruce Crauder for encouraging me when few in the world were. Also, I want you to know that I saved the email from him. ”

Department of Mathematics in 1988 with Advisor Simon Tavaré and presenting her thesis on, “Information of Fixed Cluster Samples for Genetic Traits Involving Mixtures of Distributions.” Her education continued to North Carolina State University where she received her PhD in statistics from 1989 to 1993 with a minor in genetics with advisor Bruce Wier and then on to Cornell University from 1993 to 1995 as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Gary Churchill. In 1995, she joined Purdue University as an Assistant Professor holding a joint appointment in both the College of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, and the College of Sci- ence, Department of Statistics. From 2010 to 2015, she led the Department of Statistics as Head, before moving to Carnegie Mellon as Dean in 2016. Her distinctions are evidence of her ability to articulate her intentions and shine light on the achievements of the universities, colleges, and departments with which she aligns. While teaching at Purdue, Doerge received the Teaching for Tomorrow Award in 1996, the University Scholar Award in 2001 through 2006, and the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor in 2010.

She lives her own advice of joining communities and contributing beyond your own home base. From her MCS biography, “Doerge is an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2007) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2007), and a Fellow of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (2009). She declined the American Council on Education Fellowship in 2016 to become dean of the Mellon College of Science. She held previous positions as chair of the AAAS Statistics Section (2019); a member of both the Board of Trustees for the National Institute of Statistical Sciences and the Mathematical Biosciences Institute; a member of the Engineering External Review

Committee at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and a member of the Global Open-Source Breeding Informatics Initiative Advisory Board.” During an interview in 2016 by Amy Pavlak Laird announcing Doerge’s appointment as Dean of MCS, Doerge points out one of the many aspects that sealed the deal. She said, “…when I was interviewing, I learned that the Mellon College of Science is committed to educating the whole student. That really resonated with me.

“My hope is for the younger people to change the state of science, for them to be wellbalanced and communicative and more integrated into what’s important in the world. The new MCS Core Education gets to the heart of this, and it really is a very forward-thinking approach to education.”

In the announcement of Dr. Doerge’s reappointment as Glen de Vries Dean of MCS in 2021 by Jim Garrett, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Carnegie Mellon University, he lists an impressive number of her achievements to date, including greatly contributing to one of things that drew her to MC originally— its innovative Core Education program designed to develop individuals who are better prepared to either excel in the world of academia, or thrive in the workforce. She has been instrumental in bringing forth the world’s first academic cloud lab fostering collaboration and broader data access. Garrett also highlights Doerge’s initiatives in progressing interdisciplinary approaches to neuroscience, life science, materials science, computational biology, cosmology, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.

The following interviews reflect back to 2016 and illustrate her desire to understand humanity to its DNA core, value every person, and place herself in the service to all. The insightful Q & A’s bring detail to what fueled her understanding of how interdisciplinary study serves curious individuals in a more holistic way while contributing to the revolution in science.

In an Alumni Spotlight by Terry Byron in 2016 that reflects on her time at NC State, she shed light on the origin of her interest in genetics. Responding to Terry’s question about her arrival to statistical bioinformatics while at NC State, she says, “Interestingly and surprisingly, I took no genetics or biology classes as an undergraduate; I studied theoretical mathematics at the University of Utah from 1982 to 1986. During my master’s work in statistics in the Department of Mathematics at Utah from 1986 to 1988, I became interested in computing which led to applications in human genetics. This was the beginning of my interest in genetics, heredity and the technologies employed to investigate the genetic code for the purpose of producing data that required data analysis. The year following the completion of my master’s, I worked for a human genetics research group at the University of Utah Medical School, analyzing data. This experience was life-changing and a key motivator to continue on to a PhD I realized the fun I was having and how much I had to learn about statistics, computing, and genetics. When I moved to NC State, I transitioned from human genetics applications to agricultural applications. I like to joke that, unlike humans, plants stay where you put them, eat what you tell them, and mate with whom they are told.”

That time frame at NC State gave birth to her desire and proved her persistence in promoting interdisciplinary research between statistics, genetics, and computing. In that same interview in 2016, she fathoms what the next 5-10 years might bring including, “Similar to taking your car to the shop for diagnostics of its internal memory cards of performance, humans will have doctors’ visits or maybe at-home monitoring devices that will identify and diagnose medical and health issues.”

Born in Stamford, New York, Doerge is first-generation educated, and looks back at her lone journey through academics and says to Byron that she had no guidance about the pursuit of higher education and the process that it is. If she knew then what she knows now, she would have slowed down and allowed herself to mature and spend time reading, presenting, meeting people, cultivating the craft of meaningful communication, and building relationships. She says, “Unless you can explain— verbally and in writing—what you have done, why it is important, and how your approach is advantageous to your collaborators, no one is going to believe you.”

She concludes the interview with great wisdom, “As far as advice, don’t get comfortable. Push yourself to change, grow and to say ‘yes’ to opportunities that scare you. And, finally, when in doubt, be generous.”

by Susen Sawatzki