William Jacob Hemmerle

William Jacob Hemmerle, 87, of Wakefield, Rhode Island, died peacefully on July 2, 2014, among family members in Newburyport, Massachusetts, after suffering a stroke. He was born in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1927.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, Hemmerle earned his BS from the University of Colorado in 1950 (business) and his MS from the University of Wisconsin in 1951 (mathematics). He became an analyst for the National Security Agency and served as a civilian and a Navy officer during the Korean War. In 1955, he joined IBM, where he managed a scientific computing center and was an assistant manager of a data processing center.

In 1960, Hemmerle decided to return for his PhD and become an academic research scientist. He moved to Ames, Iowa, to study at Iowa State University (ISU), where he graduated with a PhD in 1963 (statistics and mathematics). In the following years, Hemmerle pioneered advances in statistical computing.

At ISU, he pursued graduate study and research in statistical numerical analysis. He assisted in the starting of the Numerical Analysis Programming Group at the ISU Statistical Laboratory. In addition, he developed one of the first statistical packages, AARDVARK (a compiler-monitor system for analysis of variance), as part of his doctoral research. He also authored the first textbook devoted entirely to statistical computing, Statistical Computations on a Digital Computer.

During his tenure at the University of Rhode Island, Hemmerle published in prestigious journals and frequently gave invited papers. He was awarded many National Science Foundation grants and was an editorial board member and reviewer for multiple statistical journals. Hemmerle was also a consultant to the Ford Foundation in the development of the computing center at the National School of Agriculture in Mexico. He was a visiting research professor at both North Carolina State University and Texas A&M University.

In 1979, Hemmerle became a fellow of the American Statistical Association. His published works will have a lasting impact on his profession.

Hemmerle is survived by his true love and wife, Lee; they were married 66 years. He also is survived by his loving children and grandchildren and will be deeply missed by his family.