Benjamin Osafo Agyare

PhD Student in Statistics

University of Michigan

About Me

I am a third-year PhD student in the Statistics program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I come from Mpraeso, a beautiful small town in the Okwahu plains in the eastern region of Ghana. I obtained my MS degree in Statistics & Data Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Before that, I received my BS in Actuarial Science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

I am working under the supervision of Prof. Kerby Shedden on Generalized Expectile Estimating Equations (GEEE) applied to Longitudinal Data.

When I have some time to spare, I enjoy listening to music, spending time with my friends and family and watching soccer (I’m a staunch fan of Manchester United).

Interests

Statistical Machine Learning
Quantile and Expectile Regression
Non and Semi-Parametric Regression
High-Dimensional Statistics
Computational Statistics and Optimization
Causal Inference
Longitudinal Data Analysis

Education

PhD in Statistics, 2026 (Expected)
University of Michigan
MS in Statistics & Data Science, 2021
University of Nevada, Reno
BS in Actuarial Science, 2017
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Tech.

Teaching

Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

STATS 401 - Applied Statistical Methods II (Undergrad level Regression and ANOVA) || Winter 2024 & Fall 2023
STATS 513 - Regression and Data Analysis (Graduate Level ~ 51 students) || Winter 2023
STATS 501 - Applied Statistics II (GLMs, Mixed Models & Semi-Parametric Models) || Winter 2023
STATS 306 - Introduction to Statistical Computing (∼40 students) || Winter & Fall 2022
STATS 406 - Computational Methods in Statistics and Data Science (∼75 students) || Fall 2021

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Nevada, Reno

MATH 127 - Pre-Calculus II (∼70 students) || Spring 2021
MATH 181 - Calculus I (∼90 students) || Fall 2020
MATH 126 - Pre-Calculus I (∼140 students) || Fall 2019

Teaching Assistant, University of Ghana

STAT 224 - Introductory Probability II (∼60 students) || Spring 2018
STAT 222 - Data Analysis I (∼95 students) || Spring 2018
STAT 221 - Introductory Probability I (∼60 students) || Fall 2017
ACTU 409 - Introduction to Actuarial Mathematics (∼40 students) || Fall 2017

Working Experience

Instructor

University of Nevada, Reno

Jul 2021 – Aug 2021 Nevada

Summer Actuarial Intern

CAS Student Central

Jun 2021 – Aug 2021

Casualty Actuarial Society P&C training in:

Ratemaking
Reserving
Predictive Modeling
Data Visualization

Predictive Modeling Intern

Employers Insurance Group

May 2020 – Aug 2020 Nevada

Performed Territorial Analysis on claim frequencies using Spatially Constrained Clustering Algorithms and Generalized Additive Models to re-cluster rating territories for refining pricing models.
Built Loss Development Models to estimate future losses using Elastic-Net Poisson GLM.
Built Pure Premium models using GLMs and Zero-Inflated Models to predict future loss costs.