SFU professor presumed drowned

SFU professor presumed drowned

Contact:
Tim Swartz, 778.782.4579, tim@stat.sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca


September 21, 2007
Randy Sitter, a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Simon Fraser University, is believed to have drowned in a kayaking mishap off Lummi Island, near Bellingham.

United States Coast Guard officials called off a 12-hour search for Sitter at about 3 p.m. yesterday (Thursday, September 20). Earlier, they had found Sitter’s upright kayak with his life-jacket attached to it. His keys and identification were in the life-jacket’s pocket. Searchers found the vessel about 1.5 kilometres off the west side of Lummi Island, facing the open ocean. An 1800-square-kilometre search of the area by sea and air turned up no sign of Sitter, a Port Moody resident.

“The water temperature was about 11 degrees Celsius,” says U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Jeff Pollinger. “Without proper survival equipment a person doesn’t stand much chance of surviving more than a few hours in that water.”

Sitter’s locked vehicle was found at the Fairhaven boat launch in Bellingham.

The coast guard launched a search for Sitter after his wife Deanna had notified U.S. authorities that her husband hadn’t returned home from a kayaking venture, Wednesday night.

“He is a friend to many and an outstanding academic at the top of his field,” says Tim Swartz, chair of SFU’s statistics department. “We rely on him in so many ways. Randy is a great athlete and always wears his life-jacket when kayaking. We are still holding out hope for him.”

Sitter, 46, is an award-winning statistician. Originally from New Westminster and a doctoral graduate of the University of Waterloo, Sitter received the CRM-SSC prize in statistics. The award recognizes a statistical scientist's professional accomplishments in research during the first 15 years after earning their doctorate.

His contributions to research and outstanding mentoring of graduate students have garnered him a fellowship in the American Statistical Association.

News release from SFU.