Chris Heyde
Encyclopedia
Christopher Charles "Chris" Heyde AM (20 April 1939, Sydney
– 6 March 2008, Canberra
) was a prominent Australian statistician
who did leading research in probability
, stochastic processes and statistics
.
Heyde was a professor at Columbia University
, the University of Melbourne
, CSIRO, University of Manchester
, University of Sheffield
, Michigan State University
, and The Australian National University, Canberra
.
In 2008, he died due to metastatic
melanoma
.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
– 6 March 2008, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
) was a prominent Australian statistician
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
who did leading research in probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
, stochastic processes and statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
.
Heyde was a professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, CSIRO, University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, and The Australian National University, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
In 2008, he died due to metastatic
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
melanoma
Melanoma
Melanoma is a malignant tumor of melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin. They predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye...
.
Honours
- 1972 - Member of the International Statistical Institute
- 1973 - Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- 1977 - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
- 1981 - Honorary Life Member of the Statistical Society of Australia Inc. (SSAI)
- 1988 - Awarded the Statistical Society of Australia's Pitman Medal and served as President of the Society
- 1994 - Shared the Australian Academy of Science's Hannan MedalHannan MedalThe Hannan Medal in the Mathematical Sciences is awarded every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to recognize achievements by Australians in the fields of pure mathematics, applied and computational mathematics, and statistical science....
with Peter Hall. - 1995 - Thomas Ranken Lyle MedalThomas Ranken Lyle MedalThe Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal is awarded at most every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to a mathematician or physicist for his or her outstanding research accomplishments. It is named after Thomas Ranken Lyle, an Irish mathematical physicist who became a professor at the University of...
of the Australian Academy of Science. - 1998 - D.Sc. honoris causa, University of Sydney
- 2003 - Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA)
- 2003 - Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to mathematics, particularly through research into statistics and probability, and to the advancement of learning in these disciplines".
Offices held
- Vice President of the International Statistical Institute
- President of the Bernoulli Society
- Vice President of the Australian Mathematical Society
- Editor of the Australian Journal of Statistics
- Editor of Stochastic Processes and Their Applications (1983–1989)
- Editor-in-chief of Journal of Applied Probability (1990–2008)
- Editor-in-chief of Advances in Applied Probability (1990–2008).
External links
- Memoir full transcription from Historical Records of Australian Science, vol.20, no.1, 2009