Bruce E. Trumbo

Bruce E. Trumbo, professor emeritus of statistics, biostatistics, and mathematics, passed away July 8, 2022.

Bruce was a nationally and internationally recognized expert in many areas of statistics. His interests spanned probability, statistical graphics, nonparametrics, statistics education, design of experiments, mathematical statistics, Bayesian statistics, stochastic processes, probability simulation, biostatistics, R programming, and statistical consulting.

Bruce was the author of two books. His first, Learning Statistics with Real Data (2001), was later translated into Chinese by a former student. The second book, Introduction to Probability Simulation and Gibbs Sampling with R (2010)—coauthored with a former student and colleague—included chapters on the Bayesian analysis of medical testing with uncertainty. He taught a graduate course from this book until 2020.

Bruce published many papers, articles, and conference papers during his career, many related to classroom presentation of statistical ideas. Some of his early research focused on adding color to maps, which was original work and early in this field of development. He was awarded numerous grants that provided learning opportunities for his students and was recognized by statistical greats such as Frederick Mosteller, Erich Lehman, and Persi Diaconis.

Bruce joined the California State College at Hayward in 1964 (later CSU Hayward, currently CSU East Bay) after spending the previous year teaching in the mathematics department at San Jose State University while completing his PhD in statistics from the University of Chicago in 1964. After joining the California State College at Hayward faculty, he helped develop the newly formed statistics department’s undergraduate and graduate curriculum.

At the beginning of his career, Bruce taught courses in statistics without using calculators. As his career progressed, he taught courses using mechanical calculators, digital calculators, early computers, and modern computers running Minitab. He learned S-Plus in the late 1990s, and then R in the 2000s.

Bruce suggested offering evening classes to attract students employed in day-time jobs and taught the first classes offered after 6:00 p.m. in the statistics department. The evening class offerings were a success. His students benefited professionally from his insights into statistics and his dedication to life-long learning, which allowed him to keep up with ever-changing technology. His efforts ensured his students were prepared to enter the job market locally, nationally, or internationally or to pursue PhD degrees immediately upon graduating.

Bruce loved to teach and devoted his life to teaching and learning. His teaching spanned seven decades. He taught his last class at CSU East Bay the week before the first Bay Area COVID-19 lockdown. After leaving the university, he continued to teach on the Stack Exchange website as BruceET, answering more than 3,000 probability and statistics questions; he often included R code for demonstration purposes. Through these efforts, Bruce earned 49,382 reputation points, placing him in the top 0.48 percent overall. His impact was impressive; he reached ~2.6 million people.

Bruce served with distinction as a faculty member. He was elected to and served many terms on the Academic Senate. Also, for many terms, he served on and chaired the Faculty Affairs Committee. Early in his career, he served for a year in the president’s office, and he served as department chair for one term. Bruce was an active member of all department committees and served on various college committees. He enjoyed and attended most of the science festivals sponsored by the college of science.

Bruce was named Outstanding Professor of the Year in 2003–2004 and received the Sue Shaffer Award in 2009–2010. He was a pioneering faculty member whose services went far beyond playing a major role in building a new department. He actively participated in hiring most of the original and current faculty in the department of statistics and biostatistics. His faithful service on committees at every level and professional mentoring ensured faculty success in achieving tenure and promotions, publishing, and enhancing teaching techniques. Bruce also worked behind the scenes at all levels to monitor and secure changes to the departmental curriculum. His presence and input were appreciated by faculty at every stage of these processes.

Three times, early in his career, Bruce took year-long leaves of absence from the university to work at the National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Science. He served as the program director for statistical research. As a result of his leadership, many academic statisticians who previously might not have received funding were awarded NSF grants dedicated to integrating computational statistics with applied and theoretical research. Additionally, he worked to ensure female statisticians were hired in this position following his terms and helped appoint women to many important positions at the national level.

Bruce was a fellow of both the American Statistical Association and Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He was a recipient of the ASA Founders Award and IMS Carver Medallion. Bruce was the editor of the Current Index of Statistics and oversaw its transition from printed paper volumes to a computerized searchable index.

The Bruce E. Trumbo Scholarship Endowment Fund was established in 2008. It has been awarded 14 times in recognition of academic excellence and other achievements by students in the department of statistics and biostatistics.

Bruce was dedicated to the statistics field and the department of statistics and biostatistics at CSU East Bay; his professional efforts will have a lasting effect on the field. He was an inspiring teacher, mentor, coauthor, and friend to generations of students and faculty.

He is survived by two sisters, Elaine and Ellen, and their families.

In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Bruce E. Trumbo Scholarship Endowment Fund in Bruce’s memory.

Othmar W. Winkler

Othmar W. Winkler passed away August 14, 2022, at the age of 99.

Othmar W. Winkler

One of five children, Othmar was born in Vienna, Austria, to Wilhelm Winkler and Clara Deutsch Winkler, a Jewish convert to Catholicism. Othmar completed his PhD at the University of Vienna and, in 1949, immigrated to Caracas, Venezuela, where he taught at the university for five years. He married Ellen Fletcher in 1954 and relocated to Santiago, Chile, where four of their seven children were born. He joined the business school faculty at Georgetown University in 1961 and retired in 1993. As professor emeritus, he remained close to the Georgetown Jesuits and community and continued his academic pursuits.

His family established the Othmar W. Winkler Award at Georgetown’s McDonough Business School to recognize graduating seniors demonstrating the Jesuit values of social justice and community service as future business leaders. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Othmar W. Winkler Award Fund.