GEORGE CASELLA

CASELLA, GEORGE

George Casella, 61, passed away on June 17 after a nine-year battle with multiple myeloma. George was born in Bronx, NY where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. He received his BA in Math from Fordham and his MS and PhD in Statistics from Purdue University. George had a very distinguished career as a teacher, mentor and researcher at Rutgers, Cornell and the University of Florida working in the areas of both theoretical and applied statistics. Throughout his career, George mentored 48 MS and PhD students, published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored nine textbooks. He served as editor of Statistical Science, the Journal of the American Statistical Society, and the Journal of the Royal Society of Britain. For his contributions to statistics, George was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the Institute for Mathematical Statistics, the International Institute of Statistics, the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement for Science. George also ran 13 marathons and served as a volunteer firefighter during his time at Cornell. While he passionately loved his work, his family always came first. He is survived by his wife, Anne, his children, Ben and Sarah, his brother Carl and a legion of friends in the statistics world. Contributions can be made in his name to a fund at Purdue University, sent to Rebecca Doerge, Department of Statistics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. A celebration of his life will be held on June 21 at 5 pm at the United Church of Gainesville, 1624 NW 5th Avenue, where he was an active member, working with youth, mission trips, and most recently teaching pre-school children. Officiating are Rev. Larry Reimer and Rev. Sandy Reimer.