Department History

The Statistics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was established in 1960 by Professor George Box. The original philosophy on the organizational structure was to have most Statistics faculty in one central department but also to have faculty with interests in applications of statistics to a wide variety of scientific disciplines that would be represented in various units on campus. This philosophy continues today, with strong research and training programs covering the breadth and diversity of the subject of statistics in both theory and practice. From its inception, the department has evolved into one of the premier Departments of Statistics in the world. Our department is usually ranked among the top five to ten in the country on various measures of quality of faculty and graduate programs. Since 1963 over 300 Ph.D. degrees and over 400 Master’s degrees have been granted.