By The Division of Communication and Advancement

 

Applied statistician and author of the best-seller “Elements of Statistical Learning”, Professor Trevor Hastie, has donated $5000 to Rhodes University, bringing the combined donations from North America and the United Kingdom to over R1.5 million in seven months.

In his donation note, Professor Hastie wrote, “Like all of us, and especially our generation, I owe a lot to Rhodes [University] and SA (South Africa).

Elated Rhodes University USA Trust chairperson Donovan Neale-May said, “I am gratified to report this donation from our Board Member, Trevor. It is a phenomenal contribution to our RU120 anniversary year. It will greatly assist our fundraising efforts and do much to benefit students in need.”

Prof Hastie’s deep-rooted association with Rhodes University dates back to 1976 when he received his Bachelor of Science degree. After four years of medical research in South Africa and the United Kingdom, he earned his PhD in Statistics from Stanford University.

Prof Hastie spent nine years in the data analysis research group at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he played a pivotal role in the development of the increasingly popular S Language for data science. He joined the Stanford University statistics faculty in 1994 where he teaches.

He has served on the scientific advisory boards of more than 20 Silicon Valley hi-tech start-ups and is currently a senior advisor at the Palo Alto Blackrock AI Lab.

RU120 has catalysed fundamental transformation and reorientation in human relations and Rhodes University’s international fundraising approach, foregrounding excellence as the value for donors. Our RU120 report shows renewed energies in Rhodes University-centric initiatives covering North America, the UK, and Australia. Canada is now operating independently of the USA to maximise tax benefits for donors in that country, RU120 Project Manager Dr Luzuko Jacobs said.

This has enabled us to drive a nuanced international strategy to reunite our alumni in various jurisdictions, amplify their voices and reconnect them powerfully to stake their claim in the University. Recognition, awareness raising, and stewardship are central elements of a strategy to build a sustainable pipeline of new and recurring donations and reduced costs of international fundraising, Dr Jacobs said.

RU120 has opened the possibility of imagining a qualitatively superior niche academy of distinguished scholars and students in the south of the African continent. RU120 must serve as the context for a deeply reflective reimagining of the University's prospects as a future-oriented brand. Our alumni are part of this project, Dr Jacobs said.