Professor Dr. Valen Johnson

Biography

Valen Johnson is a Distinguished Professor and holds the George P. Mitchell '40 Chair at Texas A&M University. His current methodological research interests focus on problems related to Bayesian hypothesis testing, utilizing Bayes factor functions to accurately report outcomes of hypothesis tests using classical test statistics. Johnson is also involved in applying Bayesian variable selection techniques in ultra-high dimensional spaces and developing latent variable models for ordinal rank data analyses. His research on hypothesis testing and variable selection emphasizes the efficiencies gained using non-local prior densities to specify alternative hypotheses in hypothesis testing problems, particularly concerning non-null distributions and regression coefficients. Additionally, his work on modeling ordinal rank data finds applications in evaluating intelligence in non-human primate species and educational assessments.

Research Interests