The William Kruskal Legacy: 1919--2005

TL;DR

This paper is a biography and tribute to William Kruskal, highlighting his significant contributions to statistics, his leadership, and his influence on the field and its community, aiming to reintroduce his legacy to new generations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive biography and personal recollections that document William Kruskal's impact on statistics and his professional legacy, including previously published interviews.

Findings

Kruskal's influential role in the development of statistics.

His leadership at the University of Chicago and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

Personal anecdotes illustrating his professional and personal impact.

Abstract

William Kruskal (Bill) was a distinguished statistician who spent virtually his entire professional career at the University of Chicago, and who had a lasting impact on the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and on the field of statistics more broadly, as well as on many who came in contact with him. Bill passed away last April following an extended illness, and on May 19, 2005, the University of Chicago held a memorial service at which several of Bill's colleagues and collaborators spoke along with members of his family and other friends. This biography and the accompanying commentaries derive in part from brief presentations on that occasion, along with recollections and input from several others. Bill was known personally to most of an older generation of statisticians as an editor and as an intellectual and professional leader. In 1994, Statistical Science published an interview by Sandy Zabell (Vol. 9, 285--303) in which Bill looked back on selected events in his professional life. One of the purposes of the present biography and accompanying commentaries is to reintroduce him to old friends and to introduce him for the first time to new generations of statisticians who never had an opportunity to interact with him and to fall under his influence.