Nathan Keyfitz
Nathan Keyfitz, an innovative statistician and professor emeritus who broke ground applying math to human populations, passed away on April 6 at a health care facility in Lexington, Massachusetts. He was 96 years old.
Keyfitz was the Andelot Professor of Sociology in the faculty of arts and sciences and of demography at the Harvard School of Public Health. He was a Fellow of the ASA and Royal Statistical Society and the recipient of multiple honorary degrees. In 1977, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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Robert Lerner
Robert Lerner, an ASA member and one of the first members of the National Association of Scholars, passed away on April 30.
A survey research and data analysis statistician, Lerner was a partner with Lerner and Nagai Quantitative Consulting, a social science research firm. In 2003, President George W. Bush nominated him to be the next Commissioner of Education Statistics; however, the Senate did not confirm his permanent appointment.
Lerner has published several books, including American Elites Molding the Good Citizen: A Study of High-School Textbooks and Giving for Social Change: Foundations, Public Policy, and the American Political Agenda. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and his master’s and doctorate degrees in sociology from The University of Chicago.
Timothy Joel Robertson
Timothy Joel Robertson, 72, passed away at University of Iowa Hospital on April 5.
Robertson was born October 4, 1937, in Denver, Colorado, and married Joan Robertson on August 18, 1959, in Chillicothe, Missouri. He was a professor emeritus of the University of Iowa Statistics and Actuary Department and a Fellow of the ASA.
Robertson enjoyed spending time in the outdoors, camping and canoeing. His greatest joy was spending time with his wife, family, and animals on his farm outside of West Branch, Iowa. He was a man of great intellect, passion, laughter, and strength who will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
Moti Lal Tiku
Moti Lal Tiku, professor emeritus at McMaster University in Canada and visiting professor of statistics at Middle East Technical University in Turkey, passed away on March 25 at the age of 74.
Tiku was recognized for his work on what he called “modified maximum likelihood estimation.” He published more than 120 papers in prominent journals and authored several books. His work also was cited in a number of journals and books.
Tiku earned his master’s degree in mathematics from Punjab University, India, in 1957 and his MSc degree in statistics in 1960. In 1964, he earned his PhD in statistics from Aberdeen University, United Kingdom. He was awarded the DSc degree by Aberdeen University in 1984 in recognition of “original contributions in the areas of distribution theory, robust ınference, goodness-of-fit, and outlier detection.”
Tiku served as director of the statistics division and professor of statistics at the National Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Kolkata, India. He was also senior professor at the Institute of Agricultural Research Statistics in New Delhi, India, and an adjunct professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.
Tiku was an accomplished statistician and an inspiration to his young colleagues and students. He became a role model for the way he approached scientific problems and life in general. His life as a humanist and high-quality academician will remain an inspiration to many.
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