Two named Guggenheim Fellows

According to the foundation, Guggenheim Fellows are selected on the basis of their unusually distinguished achievements and their exceptional promise for future accomplishments. Lindsay and Merz were among 158 scientists, scholars and artists selected to receive the award in 1996 out of nearly 3,000 candidates.

Lindsay has earned a wide reputation for his seminal work in mixture models. His work is recognized as a major contribution to the foundations of statistical theory and also has practical applications to genetics and ecology. He serves as associate editor of two journals in theoretical statistics and provides expertise to Penn State faculty in many disciplines.

Lindsay received a bachelor's degree at the University of Oregon in 1969, then was a graduate student at Yale University and a member of the United States Coast Guard before earning a doctoral degree at the University of Washington in 1978. He joined the Penn State faculty in 1979 and was named distinguished professor of statistics in 1992. He was named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 1987, was elected to its council in 1991 and 1994 and was elected a member of the International Statistical Institute in 1990.

Merz is known for his computer simulations of the structure, function and dynamics of biologically important molecules. These simulations provide researchers with insights into chemical phenomena at the molecular level that, in many cases, are not possible to obtain experimentally. He also is conducting research that may provide insights into such infectious diseases as influenza and HIV.

Merz earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Washington College in 1981 and a doctoral degree in organic chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin in 1985, where he received the departmental competitive fellowship and two Robert A. Welsh fellowships. He was a postdoctoral scholar at Cornell University and the University of California at San Francisco before joining the Penn State faculty in 1989.