Rasitha Jayesekere

Dr. Rasitha Jayesekere is the Director of Statistics and Actuarial Science and an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences.  In addition, she coordniates the Data Science minor interdisciplinary program, and the student travel coordinator of the department, faculty sponsor for Butler's student chapter of Mu-Sigma-Rho National Statistics Honour Society and Indiana Beta chapter of Keppa-Mu-Epsilon Mathematics Honour Society.

Dr. Jayesekere's main research interests are statistics, data mining, operations research, statistics education and community based learning in statistics. She enjoys connecting with different fields through interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Jayesekere teaches courses in Statistics, Actuarial Science, and Data Science at Butler. In addition, provides statistical consultancy for faculty and students on campus. 

Dr. Jayesekere is a recipient of the Faculty All-Star Recognition Award in 2021 for her service to the university including her contribution to developing Statistics major, Data Science minor, and the Master of Data Analytics program, co-authoring with faculty colleagues across the university in their research, and statistical consultancy on campus. She is also the recipient of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2020.

She earned BSc in Applied Sciences from Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (2004), MSc in Industrial Mathematics from University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka (2008), MA in Mathematics from University of Louisville, KY (2011) and PhD in Industrial and Applied Mathematics from University of Louisville, KY (2013).

Prior to Butler Dr. Jayesekere has taught at Centre College (Danville, KY), University of Louisville (KY), Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT - Sri Lanka) and Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. While at APIIT - Sri Lanka, Dr. Jayesekere served as the project manager for Technopreneur Incubation Center which supported undergraduates on starting up tech-entrepreneurships, funded by the World Bank under the project Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education (IRQUE).

Courses taught at Butler:

Predictive Analytics & Data Mining, Introduction to Data Science, Advanced Statistical Computing, Loss Models, Linear Regression and Time Series (Applied Statistical Methods), Nonparametric Statistics, Multivariate Statistical Methods, Financial Mathematics, Statistical Theory, Elementary Statistics, Pre-Calculus, Business Calculus.
Introduction to Data Mining (graduate course - Master of Science in Data Analytics)

Publications:

• Arora, P., Muehrcke, M., Russell, M., & Jayasekare, R. (2022). Impact of comparative effectiveness research on Medicare coverage of direct oral anticoagulants. Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 11(15), 1105-1120.  https://doi.org/10.2217/cer-2021-0307 
• Lynne A. Kvapil, Mark W. Kimpel, Rasitha R. Jayasekare, Kim Shelton, Using Gaussian mixture model clustering to explore morphology and standardized production of ceramic vessels: A case study of pottery from Late Bronze Age Greece, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, (2022), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103543
• Arora, P., Johnson, A., Jayasekare, R. et al. Association between marijuana use and nonmedical prescription opioid use in the United States: are we shifting from one epidemic to another?. Journal of Public Health Policy (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-021-00282-1 
• Crawford, Novak, and Jayasekare, Volunteerism, Alcohol Beliefs, and First-Year College Students' Drinking Behaviors: Implications for Prevention, The journal of Primary Prevention 40.4 (2019): 429-448. 
• Mellis B, Soto P, Bruce CD, Lacueva G, Wilson AM, Jayasekare R (2018) Factors affecting the number and type of student research products for chemistry and physics students at primarily undergraduate institutions: A case study. PLoSONE 13(4): e0196338.
• Jayasekare RR, Gill R, Lee, K. Modeling Discrete Stock Price Changes using a Mixture of Poisson Distributions, Journal of the Korean Statistical Society, (2016) 45.3, 409-421

Grants Experience:

• Resource Person in the NSF grant for “Nonlinear Biochemistry of Transcriptional Activation Domains”, applied by Alex Erkine of College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences– Butler University, funded with $711,000 from 2019-20Collaborator22.
• Faculty Associate in the NSF grant on “Cultivating Scientific Literacy and Action through Place: Using a Campus Farm as an Interdisciplinary Learning Hub” submitted by Julia Angstmann of Center for Urban Ecology & Sustainability - Butler University, funded with $296,377 from 2016-2019.
• Project Manager of "Tehnopreneur Incubation Center" (TIC) at Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) – Sri Lanka. TIC is a project under Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education, funded by the World Bank. (2007-2009).

Dr. Jayesekere is the current Convener of Isolated Statisticians  and volunteer at Statistics Without Borders .