Eric Gerber

Research interests

• Sports analytics
• Bayesian hierarchical models
• Predictive modeling

Education

• PhD in Statistics, Purdue University
• MS in Applied Statistics, Purdue University
• BA in Mathematics (Statistics) , University of North Carolina Asheville
• BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (International Studies), University of North Carolina Asheville

Biography

Eric Gerber is an assistant teaching professor in the fields of data science and statistics at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. He earned his bachelor’s in both international studies and mathematics from University of North Caroline Asheville, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in statistics from Purdue University.

He has published in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports and is the Lead PI of a research project entitled “Competing Risks Analysis of MLB Draft Data.” This research applies competing risks analysis to investigate how different draft day factors influence the time it takes draftees to either reach MLB or retire before doing so: “Baseball is unique in the major US sports in that nearly every player drafted will spend years in the minor leagues (MiLB) before reaching the major league (MLB). Even then, less than half of the players drafted will one day make it to MLB. Beginning in 2021, the MLB draft was reduced from 40 rounds to 20, yet there will still be hundreds of players drafted each year who will never reach MLB. Further, until 2022 MiLB teams were not required to provide housing for their players, and most MiLB players still earn only poverty-level wages, creating significant risk in pursuing a career in baseball.”

In the past five years, Gerber has presented at: the 2022 Cascadia Symposium on Statistics in Sports in Vancouver, Canada, the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington, DC, the 2022 Symposium on Data Science and Statistics in Pittsburgh, PA, the 2021 International Federation of Operational Research Societies conference in Seoul, Korea, the 2019 New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports in Boston, MA, the 2019 Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver, CO, and the 2018 Cascadia Symposium on Statistics in Sports in Vancouver, Canada.

Prior to joining Northeastern, Gerber was an assistant professor at California State University, Bakersfield.

Gerber grew up largely in sub-Saharan Africa (Mali, Benin, Zambia) and is a dual citizen of the USA and Switzerland. Outside of his role, he enjoys traveling, sports, reading, writing, drawing, video games, and cooking.

Recent publications