Dr. R. Lyman Ott got his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Education and Master’s degree in Mathematics from Bucknell University, and Ph.D. in Statistics from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. After 2 years working in statistics in the pharmaceutical industry, Lyman became an assistant professor in the Statistic Department at the University of Florida in 1968 and was named associate professor in 1972.

Dr. Ott joined Merrell-National laboratories in 1975 as head of the Biostatistics Department and then head of the company’s Research Data Center. He later became director of Biomedical Information Systems, Vice President of Global Systems and Quality Improvement in Research and Development, and Senior Vice President Business Process Improvement and Biometrics. He retired from the pharmaceutical industry in 1998 and now serves as consultant and Board of Advisors member for Abundance Technologies, Inc. Lyman has published extensively in scientific journals and authored or co-authored seven college textbooks including Basic Statistical Ideas for Managers, Statistics: A Tool for the Social Sciences, and An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis.