Obituaries for April 2021
Jim Harner
Jim Harner passed away February 9, 2021.
Born June 16, 1945, in Winchester, Virginia, he attended West Virginia University on a Board of Governors Scholarship. He earned his PhD from Cornell University in operations research and returned to Morgantown as an assistant professor, eventually becoming chair of the statistics department, a position he held until his retirement.
During his career as a statistics professor and software consultant, Harner presented numerous invited papers. He was instrumental in creating the American Statistical Association’s Symposium on Data Science & Statistics, a continuation of the Symposium on the Interface of Computing Science and Statistics (The Interface).
Harner’s family will hold a celebration of his life in the summer, when it is safe to gather.
Read his entire obituary in The Dominion Post.
Allan Sampson
Allan Sampson, professor and founding chair of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Statistics, passed away January 30, 2021.
Sampson served many leadership roles in the American Statistical Association and AAAS. A survivor of childhood polio, he was a tireless advocate for handicapped accessibility.
Read the memorial message from the University of Pittsburgh. His complete obituary can be found on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.