ERNEST KURNOW

KURNOW--Ernest. The NYU Stern community mourns the loss of its beloved professor, Ernest Kurnow, who died April 7th. He celebrated his 101st birthday in October 2013. A recipient of NYU's Great Teacher Award, he taught statistics for more than 60 years, last as an adjunct in 2010. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was his student. Prof. Kurnow created the Statistics Department at NYU Stern and chaired it from 1963 until 1975, a period in which the School focused on building full-time, research-based MBA and PhD programs. He recruited many of the School's most prominent professors. His path-breaking book, "Statistics for Business Decisions," changed the way the subject was taught by introducing sampling procedures to basic statistics. Ernie was born in Brooklyn in 1912 and received his BA and MA in mathematics from New York City College in 1932 and 1933, respectively. Before joining NYU, he worked at the WPA; the Aberdeen Proving Ground, the military base in Maryland where important innovations in computing and the application of statistical quality control were developed; and the New York City Board of Education. Those who had the good fortune to know Ernie also know how much he will be missed. The family has asked that those interested in honoring his legacy donate to the Ernest Kurnow Fellowship c/o NYU Stern, 44 West 4th St., Suite 10-46, NY, NY 10012.