Teaching
Teaching is my passion. I love being in the classroom with students. I refer to them as investigators. My philosophy in teaching statistics embraces the workshop style teaching process; students must be able to investigate, discuss, criticize and build mathematical and statistical facts. Ideally I instill in them an understanding and passion for statistics affording them the ability to apply this thinking process to their majors and future careers. My efforts and resources are expended in such a way as to guarantee that my students gain knowledge in the most beneficial manner.
Throughout the teaching process, the most rewarding aspect of my interaction with students is the moment when I perceive them learning and beginning to ask good questions. It is the moment I receive spontaneous feedback that says “Yes, I got it!”. It gives me great pleasure when students begin to question and criticize facts stated without justification, which is one of the indicators of the effectiveness of my teaching style.
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. - William A.W”. A teacher who is a great motivator has the power to influence and change lives. As an eighth grade student, I had an inspiring experience when my biology teacher asked me to speak to the class. The moment I stood before the class I experienced the joy of being a teacher and began to realize my potential and inner talents.
I have taught many statistical and mathematical courses at a variety of levels: Probability Theory, Introduction to Applied Statistics, Statistical Modeling, Statistics with Application and Elementary Statistics.
Research
I am currently pursuing active research projects in Time Series Analysis. My research focuses on checking and fitting models for high and moderate frequency data used in various areas of application but mainly in finance due to the availability of the financial securities data. We consider stochastic models of financial and actuarial mathematics such as é-Driven Continuous ARMA processes and ARCH/GARCH models. We go beyond exploratory data analysis and try to provide formal tests to fit data observed at discrete times.
The topics range from deep theoretical work which provides me with an active research area with which to produce rigorous mathematically written publications, to direct applications for either real or simulated data, which promises to generate interesting research topics for senior projects.
Outside the Classroom
I am originally from Jordan where I was raised and where I completed my B.S. degree then before moving to the USA to attend graduate school where I developed an interest in financial mathematics and actuarial science. I then moved to Montreal, Quebec to attend Concordia University in order to study Actuarial Science. At Concordia I took a class called Stochastic Calculus which instilled in me a fascination with the stochastic process and time series analysis. I subsequently attended the University of Ottawa to finish my PhD in statistics which was based on making formal test statistics for fitting stochastic processes in time series data. Prior to joining the faculty at MAX I taught at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
I live in Bartlett with my wife Maha, an American from El Paso, Texas, with origins in Jordan and my son Abdelrahman (Aboody). Any rare free time I have is spent watching the news and discussing politics with my wife. We like to travel by car for our vacations and we enjoy the road, new places as well as new cultures. Memphis remains a novelty to us and we are slowly discovering its beauty and attractions; to date we very much enjoy this city.
