Michael Ross Chernick died unexpectedly on January 1, 2021. He was 73 years old and the beloved husband of Deborah Ann (Lewandowski) Chernick. The couple shared 32 years of marriage.

Born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, Michael was the son of the late Jack and Norma (Wiener) Chernick and the brother-in-law of the late Frank Weisz.

Michael earned his PhD from Stanford in operations research and held an advanced degree in statistics. A longtime member of the American Statistical Association, he was an ASA Fellow and president of the Southern California Chapter. He published many articles in professional journals and mathematical books. In addition to the ASA, Michael was a member of the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Bernoulli Society, and Royal Statistical Society. He received the prestigious Jacob Wolfowitz Award for the Outstanding Theoretical Advances Paper of the Year in 1983.

Michael was a lifelong sports fan—especially of the New York Yankees—and enjoyed teaching, mentoring, and doing puzzles, particularly Sudoku. He also liked playing chess with his sons.

Read Michael’s obituary and learn more about his family and life.