Statistical thinking is important in all disciplines engaged in empirical inquiry. The purpose of Statistical Science is to develop methods for designing and analyzing such inquiries, and to disseminate this methodology through teaching and scholarly communication.

Development of useful statistical methodology cannot take place in a vacuum. To be scientifically relevant this development should be problem-driven, motivated and guided by applications of scientific importance. Identifying and understanding important applications in all disciplines particularly in Industry and Business which what the department excels in. This requires interaction with other disciplines that acquire and analyze data. Collaborative research is therefore essential to the viability and growth of Statistics.

Computers have tremendously expanded the theoretical statistical thinking in practice. The Bootstrap, parametric and nonparametric clustering, prediction methods like CART and Neural Networks, the Cox model for survival analysis and reliability, data visualization, Bayesian inferences and Markov Chain Monte Carlo, design of experiments would have been unthinkable without the advances in computing.

Demand is rapidly increasing for new data analytic tools, and for individuals trained to invent, evaluate, and apply them. There is a new emerging field called: Data mining, which attracts employers and students. The increasing importance of computers in both data collection and data analysis has made expertise in computing an important prerequisite for creating and applying new and innovative data analysis tools.

At the time of the establishment of the Department of Statistics at the University of Tennessee in 1972, the department had already strong and thriving programs in Industrial statistics. The Statistics Department dedicated itself to further strengthening these areas while developing new expertise within the college of Business and emerging and important area of model selection, Data mining and statistical methodology. Cross-disciplinary research was also emphasized and continues to be a distinguishing feature of the academic program. The recently merger with the Operation and management sciences, provide exciting new research opportunities for both faculty and graduate students.