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Olkin (Ingram) Papers
SC1221
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Ingram Olkin papers
creator:
Olkin, Ingram
Identifier/Call Number: SC1221
Physical Description:
47.5 Linear Feet
(33 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1875-2014
Date (bulk): bulk
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.
Ingram Olkin is best known for developing statistical analyses for evaluating policies, particularly in education. Throughout
his career, Olkin conducted highly significant research concerning new and innovative statistical models and methods for the
behavioral medical, and social sciences, often simultaneously. Particularly outstanding is his research into combining, statistically,
the scientific results from independent studies.
Born in Waterbury, Conn., on July 23, 1924, he was the only child of Julius and Karola (nee Bander) Olkin, both immigrants
from Eastern Europe. At the age of 10, Ingram and his parents moved to New York City, and he later attended DeWitt Clinton
High School in the Bronx from which he graduated in 1941. He enrolled at City College of New York (CCNY), but his studies
were interrupted in 1943 when he volunteered and served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a meteorologist until 1946.
Returning to CCNY, he completed his degree in mathematics and went on to obtain a master’s degree in mathematical statistics
at Columbia University followed by a PhD in mathematical statistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, conferred
in 1951.
For his first academic position, Ingram joined the Mathematics Department faculty at Michigan State University as an assistant
professor and rose through the ranks to become a full professor. During the nine years he spent at Michigan State, he enjoyed
productive sabbatical leaves at the University of Chicago (1955) and Stanford (1958). In 1960 he joined the faculty of the
University of Minnesota to chair the formation of a new Statistics Department. One year later, he moved permanently to Stanford
University, where he held a joint appointment with the Department of Statistics and the Graduate School of Education.
Olkin’s research, teaching and other professional activities have had far-reaching influence in mathematical and educational
statistics and their applications.
His scientific legacies lie in several fields, most notably multivariate statistical analysis, inequalities (especially majorization),
linear algebra, and a subject called meta-analysis in which he was particularly active in his later years.
The latter subject enables researchers to combine separate studies in a manner that makes them more meaningful. Among the
many books Ingram Olkin has co-authored and co-edited are Inequalities: Theory of Majorization and its Applications (with
Albert Marshall) and Statistical Methods for Meta-Analysis (with Larry V. Hedges).
Ingram’s dedication to his profession was outstanding. He belonged to the editorial boards of numerous journals on statistics
and other fields. While serving as its editor, Ingram successfully advocated splitting the prestigious journal Annals of Mathematical
Statistics into two journals: Annals of Statistics and Annals of Probability. He was instrumental in the formation of the
Journal of Educational Statistics (now called the Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics). He served as chair of
the Statistics Department at Stanford (1973 –1976). He was president of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and chair,
co-chair, or member of countless committees and panels at the national level.
Olkin’s outstanding record of accomplishment and service brought him international recognition and a long list of honors and
awards. Among them are the Wilks Medal and Founders Award from the American Statistical Association, a Guggenheim Fellowship,
an honorary doctor of science from De Montfort University, election to the National Academy of Education, and the Melvin Zelen
Leadership Award from the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University’s School of Public Health.
Olkin also devoted considerable time and energy to increasing the number and status of women in graduate studies and in tenure-line
academic positions at the university level. He was instrumental in convincing the National Science Foundation to support a
successful program that brought untenured female professors of statistics to Stanford for the summer, where they could interact
with some of the leading figures in the field. To the end, Ingram continued to be an advocate for giving women and minorities
opportunities and fair treatment in all respects. In recognition of his support for women in statistics, he became the first
(and only) male recipient of the Elizabeth L. Scott Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies.
Ingram was a member of the Stanford Emeriti Council, a group that plans quarterly talks by distinguished retirees for emeritus
faculty and staff and their spouses. He was also a member of a group that planned a series of presentations on successful
aging for such an audience.
Ingram was an active participant in monthly faculty lunches at Stanford’s Hillel.
He loved theater, art, classical music and especially opera, much of which he attended in San Francisco or elsewhere in his
worldwide travels.
Ingram was survived by his wife Anita; his daughter Vivian, her husband Sim Sitkin, their children Leah and Jared; his daughter
Rhoda and children Noah and Sophia; and his daughter Julia and children Rachel and Jeremy.
RICHARD COTTLE AND JULIA OLKIN
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.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mathematical statistics.
Statistics -- Study and teaching.
Olkin, Ingram