Edward F. Alf Jr.

ALF, JR., Dr. Edward F. Dr. Alf was born in Kent, Washington on March 23rd, 1928 and died unexpectedly in Venice, California on October 10th, 2007. Dr. Alf attended undergraduate school at San Diego State University, graduating in 1950. He then enlisted in the Army where he served for two years at Fort Ord and Fort Bliss. After his discharge, he enrolled in graduate school in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. Upon earning his Ph.D., he was hired as a research psychologist at the Naval Personnel Research and Development Center in San Diego where he worked with Dr. Leonard Gordon on problems related to personnel measurement. In 1963, he joined the faculty of the psychology department at San Diego State University where he was a prolific researcher and extraordinary teacher. He continued to teach there until his retirement in 1988 when he moved to Venice, California. Professor Alf is survived by his wife, Martha, a well-known artist, his son Richard, and his sister, Gloria. Martha and Edward met when both were students at SDSU and were married in 1951. Professor Alf was greatly admired by his students and fellow faculty members for his amazing expertise in statistics and mathematics as well as his cheerful and gentle demeanor. Fellow faculty often consulted him whenever problems arose that were -beyond their competence. He never disappointed them. He not only answered questions about standard statistical procedures, but also solved problems for which no answers existed. This led to numerous publications in prestigious statistical journals, and occasionally to some exciting controversies. Professor Alf continued to work throughout his retirement. As one example, he discovered that a popular statistic then in use had been miscalculated, and proceeded to find the correct solution. Upon submitting the solution to a journal for publication, he was told that the previous wrong solution was "close enough!" Not satisfied, he submitted the article to a competitive journal, whose editors agreed that only Dr. Alf's correct answer was "close enough," and published his correct solution. That incident is a fitting example of a life well, and always correctly, lived.