While Jong Jeong’s mother wanted him to be a government official, as a kid he was open to exploring his options. Eventually he pursued statistics and came to Pitt Public Health as a faculty member and administrator who is also a fellow of the American Statistical Association. Jeong is proud of the work of his fellow faculty as well as his students and is excited to get back to in-person teaching and working. Meet our Interim Chair of the Department of Biostatistics.
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: My mother wanted me to become a government official, but I recall that I was not really sure what I wanted to be.
Q: What's the most interesting place you've ever visited?
A: Copenhagen, Denmark, a few years ago.
Q: What was your “go to” recipe/meal over the last year?
A: Spicy tofu soup. It's a Korean dish.
He also shared his recipe for a soft steamed egg.
Q: What’s the best book you’ve read over the last two years?
A: I often read two books I published in the area of statistics, but of course those are not my favorites:) It is How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Q: What excites you the most about the new Academic Year?
A: I’m excited that the COVID-19 pandemic will be winding down and I can go back to my office soon for in-person meetings and teaching, and more interactions with other faculty, staff, and students.
Q: What are some career highlights you would want new students to know about?
A: Fulfilling my military service duty through a special program to be an officer in South Korea; Receiving my PhD Degree in Statistics from University of Rochester; Joining Pitt Biostatistics as a junior faculty; Tenured and took administration roles as Vice Chair and Interim Chair of Biostatistics; Elected as an ASA (American Statistical Association) fellow.
Q: What School/Department accomplishment or milestone are you most proud of?
A: I am very proud of our faculty who have been very active and dedicated to contemporary research and teaching and their international visibilities in method development and collaboration; also very proud of our students for their superb efforts in learning new statistical methods, applying them to the real world, and presenting at the national meetings, frequently being highly recognized by winning the student award competitions; our department recently introduced new concentration programs in Health Data Science and Statistical and Computational Genomics for our MS students, and continue to working on modernizing our curriculum.
Q: What's your favorite mantra/saying/motto/quote?
A: “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that who cares? He's a mile away and you've got his shoes!” -Billy Connolly
Professor Jeong at Yosemite National Park
Jong H. Jeong
Professor and Interim Chair, Biostatistics
7/02/2021