Kollin W. Rott joins the Department of Statistics as an assistant professor. Originally from Illinois, Rott pursued his undergraduate studies in economics, finance, and mathematics at the University of Alabama; where he also earned an MA in economics. He later completed Ph.D. in biostatistics at the University of Minnesota in 2024.

Rott’s research interests lie in statistics education, with a focus on active learning, flipped classrooms and innovative grading schemes. He is also passionate about causal inference, particularly causal transportability and balancing weights. His teaching repertoire includes courses such as Introduction to Statistical Methods; Design and Analysis of Planned Experiments; and Modern Statistical Methods for Large and Complex Data Sets.

Outside of academia, Rott is an avid reader, sports enthusiast and outdoor explorer. He enjoys gaming and music, and is looking forward to getting a cat in the near future. He is excited to immerse himself in the Corvallis community, make people laugh and contribute to the university’s vibrant academic environment.

Surya Teja Eada joins the Department of Statistics as an assistant professor. Born in a small town in Andhra Pradesh, India, Eada’s early interest in mathematics was sparked by his parents, who ran an educational institution. He pursued his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata. After working as a statistical analyst in a commercial bank, he moved to the United States to continue his studies. Eada completed his M.S. in applied financial mathematics and his Ph.D. in statistics at the University of Connecticut.

Eada’s research focuses on the application of statistics in finance, particularly stochastic processes and hidden Markov models. He brings seven years of experience as a teaching assistant and has completed internships at eClerx, Deloitte and the USDA’s RIPE lab. He plans to teach courses such as Sampling Methods; Methods for Data Analysis; Mathematical Statistics; and Python Programming.

Outside of academia, Eada enjoys racket sports and traveling. He is excited to join the university and bring his diverse background and extensive experience to the community.