Penn State University Department of Statistics

Abstract

If this chapter were being written by a writer for the New York Times, the headline might well have proclaimed New Department of Statistics Created by Non-Statisticians at Penn State University and it could easily have been defended as the truth. The writer would have elaborated as follows: The Department of Statistics was created on July 1, 1968, with James B. Bartoo as its first head. Questions have been asked about how it came about and why. Who were the moving forces leading to its creation? What was their motivation? In this story answers to these questions are provided! Our story may be typical of how other statistics departments were created. Regardless, these are the facts the writer could have cited to back up our story.