David Blackwell
| David Harold Blackwell | |
|---|---|
 David Harold Blackwell |
|
| Born | April 24, 1919 Centralia, Illinois, United States |
| Died | July 8, 2010 (aged 91)[1] Berkeley, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Mathematician |
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Doctoral advisor | Joseph Leo Doob |
| Notable students | Roger J-B Wets |
| Known for | Rao–Blackwell theorem Blackwell channel Blackwell's approachability theory |
David Harold Blackwell (April 24, 1919 – July 8, 2010) was Professor Emeritus of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and is one of the eponyms of the Rao–Blackwell theorem.[2] Born in Centralia, Illinois, he was the first African American inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, and the first black tenured faculty member at UC Berkeley.[1][3]
Contents |
Career [edit]
David entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with the intent to teach elementary school mathematics. In 1938 he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in 1939, and was awarded a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1941 at the age of 22, all by the University of Illinois.[4][5]
He did a year of post-doctoral studies as a fellow at Institute for Advanced Study in 1941-42.[6] He departed when he was prevented from attending lectures or undertaking research at nearby Princeton University, which the IAS has historically collaborated with in research and scholarship activities.[5][7] Seeking a permanent position, he wrote letters of application to 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities; he felt at the time that a black teacher would be limited to teaching only at black colleges.[8] He also sought a position at the University of California, Berkeley, and was interviewed by statistician Jerzy Neyman. While Neyman supported his appointment, race-based objections prevented his appointment at that time. He was offered a post at Southern University at Baton Rouge, which he held in 1942–43, followed by a year as an Instructor at Clark College in Atlanta. He then moved to Howard University in 1944 and within three years was appointed full professor and head of the Mathematics Department.[5] He remained at Howard until 1954.
He initially taught at University of California Berkeley as a visiting professor in 1954, and was hired by UC Berkeley as a full professor in the newly created Statistics Department in 1955, becoming the Statistics department chair in 1956.[5][9] He spent the rest of his career at UC Berkeley, retiring in 1988.[5]
Blackwell was also a pioneer in textbook writing and game theory. Blackwell wrote one of the first Bayesian textbooks, his 1969 Basic Statistics.[10]
Blackwell is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity (Tau chapter – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Quotation [edit]
I've worked in so many areas—I'm sort of a dilettante. Basically, I'm not interested in doing research and I never have been. I'm interested in understanding, which is quite a different thing. And often to understand something you have to work it out yourself because no one else has done it. — David Blackwell
Honors and awards [edit]
- President, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 1956
- National Academy of Sciences, 1965
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1968
- Honorary Fellow, Royal Statistical Society, 1976
- Vice President, American Statistical Association, 1978
- John von Neumann Theory Prize, 1979
- R. A. Fisher Lectureship, 1986
- The Berkeley Citation, 1988
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Sorkin, Michael (July 14, 2010). "David Blackwell fought racism; become world-famous statistician". Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.
- ^ Roussas, G.G. et al. (2011) A Tribute to David Blackwell, NAMS 58(7), 912-928.
- ^ Cattau, Daniel (July 2009). "David Blackwell 'Superstar'". Illinois Alumni (University of Illinois Alumni Association). pp. 32–34.
- ^ James H. Kessler, J. S. Kidd, Renee A. Kidd. Katherine A. Morin (1996), Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th Century, Greenwood, ISBN 0-89774-955-3
- ^ a b c d e Grime, David (July 17, 2007). "David Blackwell, Scholar of Probability, Dies at 91". New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
- ^ Institute for Advanced Study: A Community of Scholars
- ^ "Mission and History". Institute for Advances Studies.
- ^ Donald J. Albers (2008), "David Blackwell", in Donald J. Albers, Gerald L. Alexanderson, Mathematical People: Profiles and Interviews (2 ed.), A K Peters, ISBN 1-56881-340-6
- ^ Morris H. DeGroot (1986), "A conversation with David Blackwell", Statistical Science 1 (1): 40–53
- ^ Blackwell's Basic Statistics inspired the 1995 textbook Statistics: A Bayesian Approach by the biostatician Donald Berry.
External links [edit]
- bio sketch from the American Statistical Association
- bio sketch from the Mathematical Association of America
- Dr. David Blackwell Biography Packet (5.21MB) provided by the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley.
- David Blackwell's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- On Google scholar
- David Blackwell, Scholar of Probability, Dies at 91 New York Times
- David Blackwell at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
|
- 1919 births
- 2010 deaths
- People from Centralia, Illinois
- University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni
- University of California, Berkeley faculty
- Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
- African-American academics
- American statisticians
- Probability theorists
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- Presidents of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- John von Neumann Theory Prize winners
- Fellows of the American Statistical Association
- Deaths from stroke
