Rate My Professor Ton de Waal

Ton de Waal is a Full Professor occupying an endowed chair in Methodology and Statistics within the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tilburg University, a position he assumed in 2014. He studied mathematics at Leiden University and obtained his PhD in 2003 from Erasmus University Rotterdam, with a dissertation titled Processing of Erroneous and Unsafe Data. Since January 1993, de Waal has served as a senior methodologist at Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek), contributing significantly to the development of methods for official statistics production. His career bridges academia and national statistical practice, focusing on advanced statistical techniques essential for data quality in large-scale surveys and administrative data processing.

De Waal's research specializations encompass statistical data editing, imputation methods under edit restrictions, integration of data from multiple sources, correction of sample selection bias in big data and nonprobability samples, statistical disclosure control, and quality measures for multisource statistics. He has authored or co-authored key works such as the Handbook of Statistical Data Editing and Imputation (2011, Wiley), Elements of Statistical Disclosure Control (2001, with Leon Willenborg), Multi‐source Statistics: Basic Situations and Methods (2020), Correcting Selection Bias in Big Data by Pseudo-Weighting (2023, with An-Chiao Liu and Sander Scholtus), and recent contributions including the preface to a special issue on integrating data from multiple sources (2025, Journal of Official Statistics) and papers on pseudo-weighting variance and performance measures for bias correction. With over 40 journal articles, three books, three reports, and chapters to his name, de Waal's publications have garnered substantial citations and shaped methodologies employed by statistical offices globally. His influence extends to international forums through keynotes, webinars, and coordination of sections in the International Association of Survey Statisticians.