On November 15, 2000 the statistics community was saddened by the
death of one of its most prominent members and leaders, Oscar Kempthorne, who
had given over 50 years of his life to statistical science as an educator and
researcher. Obituaries and other accounts detailing aspects of and achievements
during his personal and professional life have appeared elsewhere (IMS
Bulletin 30 (2), 2001; Bancroft, 1984; David, 1984). The purpose of this
paper is different: it is to highlight his major contributions to statistical
science, and to indicate how these ideas are still guiding statistical thinking
today.
¶ Oscar Kempthorne contributedlargely to three major areas: to
experimental design, to genetic statistics, and to the philosophy and
foundations of statistics. These seem to be rather distinct areas, but his
research shows a common thread in the form of his concern for acquiring
scientifically sound data and interpreting such data. In this context he
considered the analysis of variance as one of the most powerful statistical
techniques, and it is therefore not surprising that much of his research,
certainly in experimental design and genetic statistics, centers around this
technique. This work established him very early on as one of the leading
statisticians of our time.