The Department of Statistics at the George Washington University

Abstract

Formed in 1935, the Department of Statistics at The George Washington University is the oldest statistics department within a school of liberal arts and sciences, and one of the oldest departments of statistics in the United States. The evolution of the Department of Statistics at The George Washington University (the department, henceforth) along with accomplishments of its faculty and students is described here. To commemorate its 75th anniversary, the department held a 1-day symposium featuring many distinguished speakers. The mission of the department is to provide quality teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels with a faculty and PhD student body contributing to the frontiers of research in statistical theory, methodology, and practice. In the last quarter century or so the department has been offering service courses such as introduction to statistics to business and social sciences students. Currently, the department is servicing about 2,100 students annually. It offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Statistics. Jointly with the School of Public Health, it offers an MS and a PhD in Biostatistics and participates in the MS and PhD programs in Epidemiology.