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Stein (Charles M.) Papers
SC1224
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Charles M. Stein papers
creator:
Stein, Charles
Identifier/Call Number: SC1224
Physical Description:
48 Linear Feet
(34 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1945-2010
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 48 hours in advance. For more information
on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/spc.
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
[identification of item], Charles Stein papers (SC1224). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Charles M. Stein, professor emeritus of statistics, was one of the world’s premier mathematical statisticians.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920, Stein had a natural talent for math from an early age. Stein earned his bachelor’s degree
in mathematics at the University of Chicago in 1940, then worked for the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Alongside Kenneth
Arrow, George Forsythe and Gil Hunt, he worked to verify weather broadcasts, critical for understanding how weather might
affect wartime activities. Of his weather service work, Stein said in a 2003 interview published by Imprints, “Our participation
in World War II was necessary in the fight against fascism […].” He spoke out against all United States involvement in wars
since WWII and was often involved in anti-war protests.
After he was discharged from the Air Force in 1946, Stein completed his doctorate at Columbia University in 1947 and worked
at the University of California, Berkeley, for the next two years, leaving because he refused to sign a loyalty oath, which
resulted from McCarthy-era politics. This decision eventually brought him to Stanford, which, as a private university, required
no such oath.
Stein was hired as an associate professor in 1953 but became a full professor just three years later. Although he retired
in the late eighties, Stein continued to live close to Stanford for most of the rest of his life and stayed interested in
his field. Partially motivated by a dream to use his namesake method (Stein’s method) to prove the prime number theorem (a
mathematical statement about the distribution of prime numbers), he went to the library every day for an hour to read all
the new math books.
Stein’s method, Stein’s lemma and Stein’s paradox are all named for him. Efron, along with his then-PhD student Carl Morris,
wrote the 1977 Scientific American article that named Stein’s paradox, which came out of the James-Stein theorem (developed
with Stein’s graduate student Willard James).
A basic summary of the paradox offered by Efron was “that there is unexpected information available if one has several independent
estimates.” In the Scientific American article, Efron explained the paradox with a baseball example: while most people would
think the best prediction for the end-of-season batting averages of 10 players would be obtained by looking at each player’s
early average, the James-Stein theorem showed that including other players’ averages leads to a better result. This is a paradox
because players’ individual performances shouldn’t influence each other.
Emmanuel Jean Candès, current chair of math and statistics, called the paradox, “the most provocative result in our field
of mathematical statistics in our field in the last 60 years.” In addition to being highly practical and widely applicable,
Candès said the paradox reminds statisticians, and scientists in general, that research is not only about validating your
instincts, that there is a responsibility to do hard, trailblazing work as well.
Stein was renowned for his passionate social activism. He was opposed to war and refused to take military funding for his
research. On Oct. 11, 1985, he was the first Stanford faculty arrested in apartheid protests, as reported by the Stanford
Daily. His son, Charles Stein Jr., said that his father felt it was his responsibility to stand up for these causes. As a
tenured professor, Stein Sr. believed he could use the privilege that came along with the security of his job to give voice
to people who would suffer consequences for the same acts of protest.
Up until the last few years, Stein lived on campus. In addition to his daily library time, he came to seminars whenever possible.
He hiked the Stanford hills every day and always led the way when out with the Loma Prieta chapter of the Sierra Club.
Stein was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret. He is survived by two daughters: Sara Stein, her husband, Gua-su Cui, and
their son, Max Cui-Stein, of Arlington, Massachusetts; and Anne Stein and her husband, Ezequiel Pagan, of Peekskill, NY; and
son Charles Stein Jr. and his wife, Laura Stoker, of Fremont, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Charles Stein, Jr., 2015.
Materials include professional and personal papers, technical reports, notebooks, and computer media.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Stanford University -- Faculty.
Universities and colleges -- Faculty.
Education -- Statistical methods
Mathematical statistics.
Statistics -- Study and teaching.
Stein, Charles
Stein, Charles