It was a natural progression for Aiden Kenny ’20 to pursue a master’s in statistics after completing a degree in mathematics at Franklin & Marshall College.
“Statistics—and any field that uses them—require both a solid theoretical understanding of the topics as well as practical experience usually involving programming and writing reports. F&M gave me very good previous experience in both of these aspects,” he said.
It’s this study of theoretical and applied statistics that gave Kenny a leg up in his graduate studies at Columbia University. He said that while his classmates found difficulty with basic lecture subjects and homework material, Kenny felt he already had a strong grasp on the ideas.
“It’s thanks to F&M that I was able to develop these skills thoroughly,” he said.
With graduate school complete, Kenny recently accepted a full time role as a quantitative analyst for ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association). Though he plans to continue working in the finance field with a goal to eventually transition toward quantitative research, Kenny said he hopes he’ll one day cross paths with teaching.
“I have come to really enjoy tutoring high school students solely for the reason that I can be a positive influence on them,” he said. “I would like to have the ability to give people insights and resources that help them achieve opportunities that I never could when I was younger.”
“It’s thanks to F&M that I was able to develop these skills thoroughly.”
— Aiden Kenny ’20
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Aiden Kenny ’20, a mathematics graduate of F&M who is now pursuing a master's in statistics at Columbia University.