Recently, on Wednesday, Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, one of the most distinguished statisticians in India passed away. At the time of his death, the great statistician was 102 years old. While the country mourns the loss, let us try to know the man better and pay our respects.
Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao
CR Rao was born to revolutionize not one but a myriad of disciplines like medicine, anthropology, economics, and business. Because of his excellence in the fields and great contributions, he was conferred the 2023 International Prize in Statistics. This prize is not everyone’s cup of tea, as this feat is equivalent to a Nobel Prize in the discipline.
In his works, he talked about estimation theory, multivariate analysis, and differential geometry. The man greatly contributed to the operations of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science (AIMSCS), and the Central Statistics Office. The AIMSCS was established in the year 2013 in Hyderabad.
CR Rao’s career spanned an excellent seventy years. In his long career, he brought 51 doctorate students under his training. Many among these 51 fortunate students are luminaries today in their own fields. Four of these students, namely R Ranga Rao, KR Parthasarathy, SRS Varadhan, and VS Varadarajan, together won the Abel Prize in the year 2007 for their work on large deviations.
CR Rao was conferred with essential positions to hold. These include the positions of the Director of the Indian Statistical Institute, National Professor in India, and the Ebely Professor. The great statistician also held the positions of a Jawaharlal Nehru Professor, University Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Director of the Center for Multivariate Analysis at Pennsylvania State University. Not to miss, the man also served as a Research Professor at the University at Buffalo and the professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University.
Awards and Honors
After contributing so much in his career, no wonder the man must have received a myriad of honors. For instance, in the year 1968, the man was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan. Moreover, in the year 2001, he was awarded with Padma Vibhushan as well.
Early life at a glance
Ever since the age of 6, CR Rao displayed exemplary mathematical skills. He was the 8th one of the 10 children born to his parents. The great statistician of India was born in Huvinna Hadagali, Karnataka, in a Telugu family, in September 1920. The man finished his schooling in Gudur, Visakhapatnam, and Nandigama. The statistician completed his MA in statistics from Calcutta University and MSc in mathematics from Andhra University. The man also went to King’s College at Cambridge University for his PhD. degree. Not to miss, he also completed his DSc degree from the same university in the year 1965. The man has written his autobiography titled The Glimpses of India’s Statistical Heritage.
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Source: HIS Education