William Hunter (statistician)

William Gordon Hunter, or Bill Hunter as he was usually called, was a statistician at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was co-author of the classic book Statistics for Experimenters, and founder of the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement.

Hunter was born March 27, 1937 in Buffalo, New York. He received a bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1959 and in 1960 a master's from the University of Illinois. He then became the first doctoral student at the new department of statistics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with George Box.

He contributed to the book Statistics for Experimenters by Box, William Hunter, and Stuart Hunter (no relation to William Hunter). He founded the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality and the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement in Madison, Wisconsin. The American Statistical Association gives an annual award called the William G. Hunter Award.

According to Box, "He wanted to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate people, and he and his family spent extended periods of time helping third world countries."

Hunter was a leader in the effort to adopt the Deming system of Profound Knowledge and related ideas in the Public Sector. He contributed to Deming's Out of the Crisis, relating how the city of Madison applied Deming's ideas to a public sector organization.

Hunter died of cancer on December 29, 1986 at the age of 49.

External links

• Web site by his son
• Assessment of his life by George Box
• Statistics for Experimenters
• Obituary (starting on page 5)
• Hunter Award presented by the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality
• Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement