The New York Times' Nate Silver to Deliver Ripon College Commencement Address on Data and Decision Making, May 12

RIPON, Wis., May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Writer and statistician Nate Silver of The New York Times will receive an honorary degree and deliver the commencement address at Ripon College's one hundred forty-seventh graduation exercises, May 12, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. Silver will address the theme of "data and decisions" in his speech.

"Nate Silver has ushered in a new wave of political analysis with his use of statistics to pinpoint predictions in elections. He has been a leader in using mathematics to predict the future from politics to sports to even forecasting the winners of the Academy Awards," said Ripon College President Dr. Zach Messitte. "We are excited that a speaker of Nate Silver's caliber and prominence will address our 2013 graduates."

Dubbed a "spreadsheet psychic" and "wunderkind stat guy," Silver became a breakout star of the 2008 presidential elections after his FiveThirtyEight blog correctly predicted the results of the primaries and the Presidential winner in 49 states. Silver's statistical analysis correctly predicted the outcome of the 2012 presidential campaign in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Ripon College will also bestow an honorary degree on Dr. Steven Brams, a renowned game theorist and professor of political science at New York University (NYU). Brams analyzes voting systems and fair division and has applied game theory to a series of contemporary and historical situations from elections to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bible.

Silver and Brams will also discuss "data and decisions" as part of a public panel at 10 a.m. in the Pickard Commons, and will be available afterwards to sign copies of their most recent books.

This year's K-12 Distinguished Educator Award will go to Andrew Britton of Oshkosh West High School. He was nominated by Kyle Ruedinger '13.

For more information, schedules and updates on Ripon College's one hundred forty-seventh graduation exercises, visit: ripon.edu/commencement2013.

About Ripon College:
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. The College's liberal arts and sciences curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. For more information, visit www.ripon.edu.

SOURCE Ripon College