Department of Statistics Fundraiser

Takintayo Akinbiyi, MA'08, PhD'20
Takintayo ("Tayo") Akinbiyi, MS'08, PhD'20

Takintayo Akinbiyi Memorial Award for Academic Excellence in Statistics

Background

The Department of Statistics is honoring the life and achievements of Takintayo ("Tayo") Akinbiyi, MS'08, PhD'20 by establishing the Takintayo Akinbiyi Memorial Award for Academic Excellence in Statistics.  The award will be presented annually to a PhD student in Statistics for outstanding academic achievement in the first year of study.  All who would like to join us in honoring Tayo are invited to contribute to the Takintayo Akinbiyi Memorial Fund, which has been created to endow the award.

Born in Ibadan, Nigeria to a Nigerian (Yoruba) father and Trinidadian mother, Tayo grew up in Ontario, Canada, where he graduated from the University of Toronto in 2006 with Honors BA degrees in both Statistics and Computer Science.  At the University of Chicago, Tayo earned his MS in Statistics in 2008, worked in industry for several years, and then completed his PhD in Statistics in 2020.  As a graduate student, Tayo developed expertise in both machine learning and statistical genetics, and upon completing his PhD, he joined the Yale School of Public Health as a postdoctoral associate.  Tayo is remembered as an outstanding student, a talented young researcher, and a warm and generous collaborator and friend.

Donations

Please submit your gift via the Division of the Physical Sciences, Takintayo Akinbiyi Memorial Fund page. 

If you have questions about supporting this fund in memory of Takintayo Akinbiyi, please contact Amy Keating in the PSD Development Office at atkeating@uchicago.edu or (773) 834-1770.

We thank you for your support and generosity.

Obituary