Obituary: Richard Arnold Johnson 

Hira L Koul, Michigan State University 

Richard Arnold Johnson, aged 88, died on February 2, 2026. He lived a rich life of service and contributed greatly to the profession of statistics.

Rich was born on July 10, 1937, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He earned three degrees from the University of Minnesota—a BEE, a master’s in mathematics, and a PhD in statistics. He joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison statistics faculty in 1966, where he remained as a tenured professor until his retirement in 2008. During his 42 years on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Rich served for three years as the statistics department chair. 

Rich published more than 125 technical papers in internationally acclaimed journals such as the Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Annals of Statistics, Journal of the American Statistical Association, and Technometrics. His papers span a wide range of topics marked by contributions to asymptotic theory, rank tests, circular statistics, multivariate statistics, and reliability. His work on applications of statistics in forestry was invaluable. He especially enjoyed his creative collaborations with Gouri Bhattacharyya and George Roussas. 

Rich co-authored six textbooks. The best known is the highly cited Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis, published with Dean Wichern. This book is in its 6th edition and used throughout the world. His other highly circulated text on statistics—Principles and Methods, published with G. K. Bhattacharyya—is in its 5th edition. He was also the sole reviser of Probability and Statistics for Engineers by I. Miller and J. Freund for the 4th through 7th editions.

Rich received several honors and awards. He was an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association, International Statistical Institute, and Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He was awarded the Carver Medal in 2008 for his service to the IMS and the Don Owen Award in 2009 for his service to the ASA. At his retirement conference, Rich was presented with an award by James Evans of the US Forest Products Laboratory that read, “For 30 years of collaborative research leading to advances in statistical methodology that significantly enhanced the Forest Products Laboratory’s research effort.” His paper with Chris Morrell on random truncation and neutrinos was awarded the Frank Wilcoxon Award in 1991 for the best applications paper in Technometrics. 

Rich’s service to the profession included his having been an IMS associate program secretary, program secretary, and member of the executive committee. He was also on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Statistical Association. 

 One of his major contributions to the statistical profession was the creation of the international journal Statistics and Probability Letters. Rich was the founding editor and served as its editor-in-chief from 1982–2007. This journal is well regarded worldwide and has been credited by some for helping to change the culture of statistics journals toward faster response times. It is now in its 44th year.

Rich, accompanied by his wife, Bobbie, was an unofficial ambassador for statistics, giving technical talks in 23 countries and meeting with statisticians worldwide. He was also proud of the 25 PhD students he advised during his tenure. During his professional career, he also mentored numerous scholars. He will be missed immensely.