Morris H. DeGroot

Morris H. DeGroot is an American statistician and professor emeritus of the University of California, Berkeley. Born in the Netherlands, DeGroot received his degrees from the University of Amsterdam, including his PhD in 1956. His professional career was primarily spent at the University of California, Berkeley where he served from 1956-1972 as the John King Hudson Professor of Statistics. During his time at Berkeley, he wrote Probability and Statistics, a classic textbook that has been used by generations of students learning the fundamentals of probability and statistics.

DeGroot is renowned for his many significant contributions to the field of statistics. He proved important results in classical and Bayesian decision theory, including the minimax theorem. He also made major advances in statistical hypothesis testing, including the Neyman-Pearson Lemma and the idea of hypothesis testing in the Neyman Pearson framework. He also developed the influential Bradley-Terry model, which is widely applied in the analysis of paired comparison data, such as sports rankings. He also did early work on linear models related to the analysis of variance.

In addition to his theoretical contributions to the field of statistics, DeGroot was also an influential educator. He wrote Probability and Statistics, a widely used textbook for statistics courses in universities. His textbook has been continuously revised and republished to keep up with modern developments in statistics. DeGroot also wrote the book The Analysis of Variance, which provides a comprehensive overview of the topic. The book was used as one of the key reference books for advanced statistical courses at many universities for many years.

DeGroot received numerous awards for his lifetime of work, including the Leslie Kish Award in 1996 and the U.S. National Medal of Science in 2003. He also served on numerous committees and held positions in respected professional journals. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Statistical Association.

DeGroot's influence was far reaching. He trained generations of PhD students at the University of California, Berkeley who went on to make their own contributions to the field of statistics. He also made significant impacts in his research in classical and Bayesian decision theory and hypothesis testing. His books, such as Probability and Statistics and The Analysis of Variance remain core texts for many statistics courses. Through his work as an educator, researcher, and mentor, Morris H. DeGroot made many substantial and lasting contributions to the field of statistics.