Robert Clifford Gentleman

Robert Clifford Gentleman, born in 1959, is a renowned Canadian statistician and bioinformatician. He has made significant contributions to the fields of statistics, bioinformatics, and computational biology. This biography details his life, achievements, and contributions to science and technology.

Early Life and Education

Robert Gentleman completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of British Columbia. He later pursued a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Washington, where he completed his thesis titled "Exploratory methods for censored data" in 1988 under the supervision of John James Crowley source.

Professional Career

Academic Contributions

In the mid-1990s, Robert Gentleman worked as a statistics professor at the University of Auckland. It was during this period that he, along with Ross Ihaka, developed the R programming language, a significant tool for data analysis and graphical representation source. R has since become a cornerstone in the field of data science, widely used by statisticians and data analysts worldwide.

Bioconductor Project

In 2001, Gentleman initiated the Bioconductor project, which aimed to promote the development of open-source tools for bioinformatics and computational biology source. Bioconductor has been instrumental in advancing research in the fields of genomics and computational biology by providing accessible and comprehensive software tools.

Industry Roles

Robert Gentleman has held several prominent positions in the biotechnology industry. In 2009, he joined Genentech, a biotechnology corporation, where he served as a senior director in bioinformatics and computational biology source.

In April 2015, Gentleman joined 23andMe, a personal genomics and biotechnology company, as vice president. His role involved bringing expertise in bioinformatics and computational drug discovery to the company source.

Currently, Robert Gentleman is the founding executive director of the Center for Computational Biomedicine at Harvard Medical School, where he continues to contribute to the advancement of computational biology source.

Board Memberships

Gentleman has also served on the board of Revolution Analytics (formerly known as REvolution Computing), a company specializing in statistical software source.

Awards and Honors

Robert Gentleman has received several prestigious awards and honors throughout his career, recognizing his contributions to science and technology.

• Benjamin Franklin Award (Bioinformatics) (2008): This award acknowledged his work on the R programming language, the Bioconductor project, and his commitment to data and methods sharing source.
• Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology (2014): This fellowship recognized his significant contributions to computational biology and bioinformatics source.
• Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2017): This honor was awarded for his outstanding contributions to the field of statistics source.

Legacy and Impact

Robert Gentleman's work has had a profound impact on multiple scientific disciplines. The R programming language has revolutionized data analysis and statistical computing, becoming an essential tool for researchers and data scientists. The Bioconductor project has democratized access to advanced bioinformatics tools, facilitating significant advancements in genomics research.

Career Timeline

• 1988: Received Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Washington source
• Mid-1990s: Developed the R programming language with Ross Ihaka while at the University of Auckland source
• 2001: Initiated the Bioconductor project source
• 2009: Joined Genentech as senior director in bioinformatics and computational biology source
• 2015: Joined 23andMe as vice president source
• Current: Founding executive director of the Center for Computational Biomedicine at Harvard Medical School source