Walter L. Smith
Encyclopedia
Walter Laws Smith is a British
-born American
mathematician
, known for his contributions to applied probability theory
.
Smith received his B.Sc. in mathematics
(1947) from Cambridge University, going on to
earn an M.Sc. (1951) and Ph.D.
(1953) from the same university. His dissertation was entitled Stochastic Sequences of Events advised by Henry Daniels
and
D. R. Cox
, with whom he published the book Queues (1961) and also
published with in his early years.
He worked at The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill (1954-56 and 1958-), where he is now an emeritus
in the department of statistics and operations research.
He is fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
,
fellow of the American Statistical Association
(1966),
winner of the Adams Prize
at the University of Cambridge (1960),
Sir Winston Churchill overseas fellow and
receiver of a Guggenheim Fellowship
(see List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1974)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, known for his contributions to applied probability theory
Probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
.
Smith received his B.Sc. in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
(1947) from Cambridge University, going on to
earn an M.Sc. (1951) and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1953) from the same university. His dissertation was entitled Stochastic Sequences of Events advised by Henry Daniels
Henry Daniels
Henry Ellis Daniels FRS was a British statistician. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society , and was awarded its Guy Medal in Gold in 1984, following a Silver medal in 1947. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1980...
and
D. R. Cox
David Cox (statistician)
Sir David Roxbee Cox FRS is a prominent British statistician.-Early years:Cox studied mathematics at St. John's College, Cambridge and obtained his PhD from the University of Leeds in 1949, advised by Henry Daniels and Bernard Welch.-Career:He was employed from 1944 to 1946 at the Royal Aircraft...
, with whom he published the book Queues (1961) and also
published with in his early years.
He worked at The University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
Chapel Hill (1954-56 and 1958-), where he is now an emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
in the department of statistics and operations research.
He is fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics
Institute of Mathematical Statistics
The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts of the world...
,
fellow of the American Statistical Association
American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association , is the main professional US organization for statisticians and related professions. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest, continuously operating professional society in the United States...
(1966),
winner of the Adams Prize
Adams Prize
The Adams Prize is awarded each year by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and St John's College to a young, UK based mathematician for first-class international research in the Mathematical Sciences....
at the University of Cambridge (1960),
Sir Winston Churchill overseas fellow and
receiver of a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(see List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1974)
Publications
- The superimposition of several strictly periodic sequences of events, in BiometrikaBiometrika- External links :* . The Internet Archive. 2011....
, 40(?), 1953. With Cox. - A direct proof of a fundamental theorem of renewal theory, in Skandinavisk Aktuartidsskrift, 36(?), 1953
- On the superposition of renewal processes, in BiometrikaBiometrika- External links :* . The Internet Archive. 2011....
, 41(1-2):91-99, 1954. With Cox. - A note on truncation and sufficient statistics in The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 28(1):247-252, 1957
- On the distribution of Tribolium confusum in a container, in BiometrikaBiometrika- External links :* . The Internet Archive. 2011....
, 44(?), 1957. With Cox. - Renewal theory and its ramafications, in Journal of the Royal Statistical SocietyJournal of the Royal Statistical SocietyThe Journal of the Royal Statistical Society is a series of three peer-reviewed statistics journals published by Blackwell Publishing for the London-based Royal Statistical Society.- History :...
, 20(2):243-302, 1958 - On the elementary renewal theorem for non-identically distributed variables, in Pacific Journal of MathematicsPacific Journal of MathematicsThe Pacific Journal of Mathematics is a mathematics research journal supported by a number of American, Asian and Australian universities and research institutes, and currently published on their behalf by Mathematical Sciences Publishers, a non-profit academic publishing organisation.It was...
, 14(2):673-699, 1964 - Congestion Theory, Proceedings of the Symposium on Congestion Theory, The University of North Carolina Monograph Series in Probabiliy and Statistics., 1965. With William E. Wilkinson (editors).
- Necessary conditions for almost sure extinction of a branching process with random environment, Annals of Mathematical StatisticsAnnals of Mathematical StatisticsThe Annals of Mathematical Statistics was a peer-reviewed statistics journal published by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics from 1930 to 1972. It was superseded by the Annals of Statistics and the Annals of Probability.-External links:*...
,. 39(?):2136-2140, 1968 - Branching processes in Markovian environments in Duke Mathematical JournalDuke Mathematical JournalDuke Mathematical Journal is a peer-reviewed mathematics journal published by Duke University Press. It was established in 1935. The founding editors-in-chief were David Widder, Arthur Coble, and Joseph Miller Thomas. The first issue included a paper by Solomon Lefschetz...
38(4):749-763, 1971. With William E. Wilkinson - Harold HotellingHarold HotellingHarold Hotelling was a mathematical statistician and an influential economic theorist.He was Associate Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University from 1927 until 1931, a member of the faculty of Columbia University from 1931 until 1946, and a Professor of Mathematical Statistics at the...
1895-1973 in The Annals of Statistics, 6(6):1173-1183, 1978 - On transient regenerative processes in Journal of Applied Probability, 23(?):52-70, 1986. With E. Murphree.