Christopher NachtsheimProfessor
Chair (With Faculty Rank)

Christopher NachtsheimCurtis L. Carlson Professor of Operations & Management Sciences
CSOM Operations & Mgmt Sci,
3-245 CarlSMgmt
321 19th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN  55455
Phone: 612/624-1077
nacht001@umn.edu


Education
PhD, 1979, operations research, University of Minnesota
MS, 1974, operations research and statistics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
BA, 1973, mathematics and quantitative methods, College of St. Thomas

Research

Expertise
Experimental design
Regression and analysis of variance

Research Statement
My research interests have always been at the intersection of optimization and statistics. My PhD dissertation focused on the use of optimization methods to construct optimal experimental designs for use in product and process improvement, and this continues to be one of my central streams. Algorithms that I have developed for constructing efficient experimental designs are currently distributed in SAS, JMP, Matlab, Design Expert, and other widely used statistical software packages. A second stream revolves around regression and linear models, recently with application to data mining.

Current Research
Computer-aided experimental design
Analysis of unreplicated experiments
Model free methods for regression and experimental design


Publications

Major Publications

  • "Bayesian D-Optimal Supersaturated Designs," B. Jones, D. Lin, and C. J. Nachtsheim, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference (2006).
  • "Sparse Sliced Inverse Regression," L. Li and C. J. Nachtsheim, Technometrics (2006).
  • "Model Discrimination--Another Perspective of Model Robustness," B. Jones, W. Li, C. J. Nachtsheim, and K. Ye, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference (2006).
  • "Model-free Variable Selection," L. Li, R. D. Cook, and C. J. Nachtsheim, Journal of the Royal Statistics Society, Series B: Statistical Methodology (2005).
  • "Cluster-based Estimation for Sufficient Dimension Reduction," L. Li, R. D. Cook, and C. J. Nachtsheim, Journal of Computational Statistics and Data Analysis (2004).
  • "Model-Robust Factorial Design," C. J. Nachtsheim and W. Li, Technometrics (2000).
  • "Re-Weighting to Achieve Elliptically Contoured Covariates in Regression," C. J. Nachtsheim, Journal of the American Statistical Association (1994).

Books

  • Applied Linear Regression Models, 4th ed., C. J. Nachtsheim, J. Neter, M. Kutner, and W. Wasserman (Richard D. Irwin, 2005).
  • Applied Linear Statistical Models, 5th ed., C. J. Nachtsheim, J. Neter, M. Kutner, and W. Wasserman (Richard D. Irwin, 2006).

Other Publications

    • "Custom DOE Using JMP," a pre-conference short course, C. J. Nachtsheim and B. Jones, SAS Institute Quality and Productivity Research Conference (June 7-9, 2006).
    • "The Synergiestic Roles of Optimal and Classical Designs for Quality Improvement in the 21st Century," SAS Institute Quality and Productivity Research Conference (June 7-9, 2006).
    • "Custom Design of Experiments Using JMP Software: No Pain, Just Gain," C. J. Nachtsheim, SAS Institute sponsored workshop, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 14, 2006).
    • "Teaching Design of Experiments Using Statistical Software," a pre-conference short course, C. J. Nachtsheim and M. Johnson, University of Central Florida Quality and Productivity Research Conference (May 19-21, 2004).

    Instruction

    Teaching Philosophy
    Statistics is fun and profitable, and data and statistical thinking are critical to the effective functioning of an organization. These are radical notions to most business students when first confronted with a required statistics course. When I teach, my ultimate goal is to convince my students that these notions are true, and to help the students become effective, fact-based decision-makers. To achieve that objective, my students must be ready to solve a lot of real-world problems and analyze a lot of real-world data.

    Courses

    Summer, 2009
    VMBA 5701 Data Analysis and Decision Making Sec.  001
    Fall, 2009
    CMBA 5611 Statistics and Decision Making Sec.  001
    Spring, 2010
    VMBA 5701 Data Analysis and Decision Making Sec.  001
    Fall, 2010
    CMBA 5611 Statistics and Decision Making Sec.  001


    Service

    Current Administrative Appointments

    • Operations and Management Science Department Chair, 1992-96 and 2002-present
    • Associate Dean of Faculty and Research, 1996-2000
    • Faculty Senate, 2004-06

    Scholarly Service and Honors

    • President, American Statistical Association, Twin Cities Chapter, 1985-86
    • Brumbaugh Award of the American Society for Quality Control, 1991 (co-recipient for the best paper published in the area of quality control)
    • Best Paper Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1992
    • Elected Chair, Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences, American Statistical Association, 2001

    Community Relationships

    • Consultant for Los Alamos National Laboratory, The Pillsbury Co., M&M Mars Corp., Exxon Corp., Keebler Foods, Inc., TCF Bank Minnesota, and 3M
    • Examiner, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, 1997