As a Ph.D. student, I learned a lot from Aya. I would like to focus
specifically on two aspects that I think are unique to Aya as a mentor.
The first one is the importance of broad statistical education.
Even if you choose to specialize in a narrow statistical area, you may benefit
from knowing even just a little about other areas.
The other aspect that often reminds me of Aya is the importance of being able
to make clear and organized presentations. When I go to a conference,
I often find the presentation quality of many talks quite poor, even
if the content is good. When I see a bad speaker, I think this person
was not fortunate to have an advisor like Aya. As a Ph.D student, Aya
encouraged me to give talks at international conferences.
Before each conference, I would practice my talk, including in front of Aya,
who always had good advice to improve the quality of the presentation.
Our beloved Aya passed away / איה היקרה שלנו נפטרה
איה האהובה שלנו הלכה לעולמה ב-20 בפברואר 2019. החדשות העציבו וזעזעו את בני משפחתה, ידידיה ורבים מעמיתיה, תלמידיה, מיועצים במעבדה הסטטיסטית בטכניון, ועוד רבים אחרים שאיתם היו לה קשרים חמים של שנים ארוכות.
בלוג זה הוקם בשנת 2008 כדי להנציח את פרישתה של איה מהטכניון. היא שמחה לקרוא את ההודעות היפות שנכתבו על ידי רבים כל כך מאלה שהיא נגעה בחייהם.
בזמן עצוב זה החלטנו לפתוח מחדש את הבלוג לכתיבת סיפורים לזכרה, כאנדרטה וירטואלית. אתם מוזמנים "לשמוע" על חייה ותרומותיה הנפלאות של איה ולשתף בסיפוריכם שלכם
בלוג זה הוקם בשנת 2008 כדי להנציח את פרישתה של איה מהטכניון. היא שמחה לקרוא את ההודעות היפות שנכתבו על ידי רבים כל כך מאלה שהיא נגעה בחייהם.
בזמן עצוב זה החלטנו לפתוח מחדש את הבלוג לכתיבת סיפורים לזכרה, כאנדרטה וירטואלית. אתם מוזמנים "לשמוע" על חייה ותרומותיה הנפלאות של איה ולשתף בסיפוריכם שלכם
Our beloved Aya passed away on Feb 20, 2019. The news has saddened and shocked her family, friends and many of her colleagues, past students, mentees, advisees at the Technion statistics lab, and so many more with whom Aya had wonderful life-long relationships.
This blog was created in 2008 to commemorate Aya's retirement from the Technion. She was delighted to read the lovely posts contributed by so many of those whose lives she touched.
In this sad moment of Aya's passing away, we decided to re-open the blog for posts, serving as a virtual memorial. We invite everyone to "hear" about Aya's life and wonderful contributions, and to share your stories.
This blog was created in 2008 to commemorate Aya's retirement from the Technion. She was delighted to read the lovely posts contributed by so many of those whose lives she touched.
In this sad moment of Aya's passing away, we decided to re-open the blog for posts, serving as a virtual memorial. We invite everyone to "hear" about Aya's life and wonderful contributions, and to share your stories.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A memeber of Aya's fan club
I first met Aya when I did my M.Sc in statistics at the Technion. Unfortunately (for me) she taught me only 2 courses.
The first time I walked into her classroom I froze. Literally! I froze to death. It was the middle of the summer, 40 degrees in the shade and minus 10 in the classroom. I’m sure all of Aya’s students and colleagues know what I’m talking about. Turns out Aya has a long term relationship with the very-very-cool side of the air-condition system…
The next lesson, I was prepared! Believe it or not, I took my army coat (yes, yes, in the middle of the s-u-m-m-e-r ) and attended the lesson. Wow – I’ve struck gold this time. Aya was so clear, so fluent and so enthusiastic about teaching she really made everything seem easy… and interesting – from that day on, I am a proud member of Aya’s fan club.
When I gave my thesis presentation, I was soooo stressed. All the professors and colleagues attended and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the first slide. And then came Aya , holding her famous fruit cake.
Now.. I wasn’t her student, I was never her teaching assistant, but there she was – thinking of me. She said she thought I’d be just a tiny bit pressured and that a cake always helps. Well, it sure did!
So now the queen of ice with the warmest of hearts is retiring. I wish her all the best, really.
And, Aya, I’m just adding a personal note here – You taught me statistics (and did it so well) but you’ve also taught me to become a “mentch” and I believe this is even more important that statistics :) ,
A (no longer) secret admirer,
Sharon Biran
The first time I walked into her classroom I froze. Literally! I froze to death. It was the middle of the summer, 40 degrees in the shade and minus 10 in the classroom. I’m sure all of Aya’s students and colleagues know what I’m talking about. Turns out Aya has a long term relationship with the very-very-cool side of the air-condition system…
The next lesson, I was prepared! Believe it or not, I took my army coat (yes, yes, in the middle of the s-u-m-m-e-r ) and attended the lesson. Wow – I’ve struck gold this time. Aya was so clear, so fluent and so enthusiastic about teaching she really made everything seem easy… and interesting – from that day on, I am a proud member of Aya’s fan club.
When I gave my thesis presentation, I was soooo stressed. All the professors and colleagues attended and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the first slide. And then came Aya , holding her famous fruit cake.
Now.. I wasn’t her student, I was never her teaching assistant, but there she was – thinking of me. She said she thought I’d be just a tiny bit pressured and that a cake always helps. Well, it sure did!
So now the queen of ice with the warmest of hearts is retiring. I wish her all the best, really.
And, Aya, I’m just adding a personal note here – You taught me statistics (and did it so well) but you’ve also taught me to become a “mentch” and I believe this is even more important that statistics :) ,
A (no longer) secret admirer,
Sharon Biran
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Aya is retiring!!!
How can that be? I think of her as the young visitor to Bell Labs with whom I enjoyed working on several interesting problems, she was the one who nagged me to write our stuff up so it could be published. Still, I have good news for her. Retitrement is not the end. I "retired" in 2000 but since then have been having just as much fun. There are always good problems to work on. I envy the many students she has inspired. Her enthusiam and energy are legendary.
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