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Ingram Olkin (1924–2016): An Appreciation for a People Person

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Matrices, Statistics and Big Data (IWMS 2016)

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Abstract

Ingram Olkin, Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Education at Stanford University, Master of multivariate statistical analysis, linear algebra, inequalities, majorization, and meta-analysis, passed away on 28 April 2016 at home in Palo Alto, California, after complications from colon cancer. In the words of his daughter Julia Olkin [7]

My father, Ingram Olkin, died peacefully on Thursday evening, April 28, 2016, with his daughter Rhoda and wife Anita by his side. He had absolutely no regrets … both personally and professionally, and led a full, wonderful life. He valued all his friendships with everyone. Thank you for being a part of his life …

Richard W. Cottle, Professor Emeritus of Management Science & Engineering and a close friend of Olkin, said [4]:

He was a man of remarkable intelligence and affability. His nearly boundless energy was generously used for the welfare of others. It is hard to capture in words the goodness that Ingram showed in his everyday life.

In the conversation part of the Olkin Festschrift [8], Ingram described himself:

You also know that I’m generally a people person, which is one of the reasons why I’ve enjoyed students and collaborators. Over the years, the professional contacts have merged with the personal contacts.

We deeply miss you, a truly outstanding and unforgettable People Person, Ingram Olkin.

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Notes

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References

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Acknowledgements

Warm thanks go to Elja Arjas, Kai-Tai Fang, Michael Greenacre, Harold V. Henderson, Jeffrey J. Hunter, Remigijus Leipus, Peter Šemrl, Evelyn Matheson Styan, Kimmo Vehkalahti, Grace Wahba, and Fuzhen Zhang for their help.

Photographs: Top left p 11 at IWMS-1990 Tampere (with Jerzy K. Baksalary and Yadolah Dodge, photograph courtesy University of Tampere); top right p 12 at IWMS-1995 Montréal (with Gene H. Golub and T. W. Anderson, photograph by Simo Puntanen); bottom left p 21 at IWMS-2011 Tartu, Estonia (photograph by Jeffrey J. Hunter); bottom right p 22 at IWMS-1995 Montréal (photograph by Simo Puntanen).

The original, shorter version of this appreciation of Ingram Olkin appeared in [30]. A shortened version also appeared in [31].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Simo Puntanen

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    George P. H. Styan

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  1. Simo Puntanen
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Correspondence to Simo Puntanen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    S. Ejaz Ahmed

  2. Departmental Unit of Mathematics and Physics, Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Tomar, Portugal

    Francisco Carvalho

  3. Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Simo Puntanen

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Puntanen, S., Styan, G.P.H. (2019). Ingram Olkin (1924–2016): An Appreciation for a People Person. In: Ahmed, S., Carvalho, F., Puntanen, S. (eds) Matrices, Statistics and Big Data. IWMS 2016. Contributions to Statistics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17519-1_4

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