creator:

American Statistical Association. Chesapeake Chapter

title:

Records

dates:

1984-1990, n.d.

extent:

0.21 linear ft.  (1 half-document box)

collection number:

MS

repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

American Statistical Association, Chesapeake Chapter Records, MS 214, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

At the beginning of the 1970s, work in statistics and applied probability was being carried out by scientists dispersed throughout the tenant activities at Aberdeen Proving Ground.  These individuals commonly held job titles of mathematician, operations research analyst, engineer, and, occasionally, mathematical statistician.  With the creation in 1978 of a Probability and Statistics Branch in the Ballistic Research Laboratory under the aegis of Dr. R. J. Eichelberger (Director, 1968-1986) the time seemed ripe to provide an arena for these statisticians - in fact, if not in name - to congregate and become acquainted, to share problems faced in isolation and problems held in common.  The Maryland Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA) was serving statisticians located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.  To the north, the Delaware Chapter of the ASA required a lengthy commute.  The geographical consideration and the parochial interests of the Aberdeen statisticians provided the impetus for the formation of the Chesapeake Chapter of the ASA.

Collection description