Dr J. de Mast (1974) has been appointed Professor of Industrial Statistics at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Industrial statistics provides methodological support for the design, control and improvement of business processes, as well as for the development of reliable, high quality, and durable products. Diagnostic problem-solving is one of the leading themes in Jeroen de Mast’s research, focusing on strategies and methods for identifying the causes of process disturbances and quality problems in products. Another key research theme centres on models and techniques for evaluating the reliability of measurements and inspections. De Mast has built up a large body of publications on improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma and Lean Operations that target business processes and have been avidly embraced by the business and healthcare sectors.

De Mast’s work is strongly driven by the interaction between academic research and the challenges of applying research insights to real problems. Since 1998 he has worked as a principal consultant at the Institute for Business and Industrial Statistics (IBIS UvA), a UvA-based consulting firm that has been a leading provider for 16 years of expertise and training in fields such as Six Sigma, Lean Operations and Design for Six Sigma. De Mast has trained hundreds of industry, healthcare and service sector professionals in process and product improvement expertise. De Mast is also a co-founder of the Dommel Valley Platform, a high-tech industry network based in the Eindhoven area and set up to exchange knowledge about the design of reliable and durable products. His academic expertise and practical experience will form the basis for a course on Operations & Process Management that De Mast is coordinating for students at the Amsterdam Business School as of next year.

De Mast graduated from Leiden University in 1997 with a Master’s degree in Mathematics, and subsequently worked at the UvA Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics until 2009. His work has won various prizes, including the Brumbaugh Award and Feigenbaum Medal of the American Society for Quality. He is a frequent contributor to journals including Technometrics and the Journal of Quality Technology, and was section editor of the Encyclopedia of Statistics in Quality and Reliability. De Mast is an associate member of the International Academy for Quality and was one of the pioneers behind the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics.