Stefano Castruccio, Notre Dame Collegiate Associate Professor in the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics (ACMS), has been named an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA).

He was recognized for using statistical methods to create high-resolution climate simulations for environmental statistics. Castruccio has bridged spatio-temporal statistical models—models that analyze phenomena that vary across both space and time—with machine learning, applying this work to areas from monitoring air pollution to fluid dynamics.

“The ASA fellowship is one of the highest recognitions in the statistical community, and it is very rarely bestowed to an associate professor,” Castruccio said. “It is an important milestone for me as a scholar, but also for growing the reputation and standing of ACMS, my department.”

In 2024, Castruccio and collaborators won the ACM Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling, an honor recognizing outstanding achievements in high-performance climate simulations, which reduce computational costs and data storage seen in typical climate models.

Castruccio earned his bachelor’s degree from Politecnico di Milano in Italy and his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He is the second ASA fellow named from the University of Notre Dame. Fang Liu, acting department chair and Collegiate Professor in ACMS, was honored as a fellow in 2021.

“This award is also an acknowledgment of how Notre Dame has provided me with outstanding support and resources for this achievement,” Castruccio said.

The ASA is the world’s largest community of statisticians, founded in Boston in 1839. It supports development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, education, accreditation, and advocacy. Members serve in industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, according to the organization’s website.

Originally published by Deanna Csomo Ferrell at science.nd.edu on April 24, 2025.