Robert Wijsman

Robert Wijsman 1920-2005
Ph.D. 1952, Physics
University of California Berkeley
Joined University of Illinois faculty 1957

In addition to the Robert E. Bohrer Keynote Speaker that concludes the event, the memorial student workshop is kicked off by the Robert Wijsman Lecture. Robert A. Wijsman was another founding faculty member of the Department of Statistics after it separated from the Department of Mathematics in 1985. As a primarily independent researcher, Robert Wijsman not only made fundamental contributions to his primary field of study in physics, but made important contributions in the general area of mathematical statistics, multivariate analysis, and sequential analysis. 

  • Mathematical Statistics, Multivariate Analysis, Sequential Analysis.
  • Published 60 papers, 56 of them are single-authored.
  • "Invariant Measures on Groups and Their Use in Statistics”, IMS Lecture Notes Monograph Series
  • Mentor for many students (14 in Math Genealogy)
  • “His work is characterized by its high quality, careful attention to detail, mathematical sophistication, and balance between theory and applications”
  • “Bob displayed admirable tenacity in this pursuit of precise, accurate, and useful results, and he solved hard problems of real significance”
  • “Bob’s colleagues remember well his careful and precise approach to everything he did, his generosity and willingness to work quite hard for the common good, and his dry sense of humor.”
  • Reference: A. Martinsek (2006) The contributions of Robert A Wijsman to sequential analysis. Sequential Analysis, 25, 3-18.

Wijsman Lecturers

  • 2014 Zhiliang Ying, Columbia University
  • 2015 John Lafferty, University of Chicago
  • 2016 Xihong Lin, Harvard University
  • 2017 Nancy Reid, University of Toronto
  • 2018 Michael Kosorok, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill