Emanuel Parzen
Encyclopedia
Emanuel Parzen is an American
statistician
. He has worked and published on signal detection theory and time series
analysis, where he pioneered the use of kernel density estimation
(also known as the Parzen window in his honor). Parzen is the recipient of the 1994 Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Medal of the American Statistical Association
.
. He then matriculated to Harvard
, where he earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 1949. From there, he went on to Berkeley
, earning his master and doctorate degrees in mathematics in 1951 and 1953, respectively. His dissertation, "On Uniform Convergence of Families of Sequences of Random Variables", was written under Michel Loève
.
Parzen went directly into academia after graduate school, first serving as a research scientist in the physics department and assistant professor of mathematical statistics at Columbia University
. He left there in 1956 for Stanford University
, where he stayed for the next 14 years. During this time, he wrote what has become one of the classical texts in probability theory. In 1970, he accepted the chair of the statistics department at SUNY Buffalo
and in 1978 moved to his current post as a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
statistician
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
. He has worked and published on signal detection theory and time series
Time series
In statistics, signal processing, econometrics and mathematical finance, a time series is a sequence of data points, measured typically at successive times spaced at uniform time intervals. Examples of time series are the daily closing value of the Dow Jones index or the annual flow volume of the...
analysis, where he pioneered the use of kernel density estimation
Kernel density estimation
In statistics, kernel density estimation is a non-parametric way of estimating the probability density function of a random variable. Kernel density estimation is a fundamental data smoothing problem where inferences about the population are made, based on a finite data sample...
(also known as the Parzen window in his honor). Parzen is the recipient of the 1994 Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Medal of the American Statistical Association
American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association , is the main professional US organization for statisticians and related professions. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest, continuously operating professional society in the United States...
.
Biography
Parzen attended Bronx High School of ScienceBronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
. He then matriculated to Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics in 1949. From there, he went on to Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, earning his master and doctorate degrees in mathematics in 1951 and 1953, respectively. His dissertation, "On Uniform Convergence of Families of Sequences of Random Variables", was written under Michel Loève
Michel Loève
Michel Loève was a French American probabilist and a mathematical statistician, of Palestinian Jewish origin. His name is known to probabilists and statisticians because of the Karhunen–Loève theorem and Karhunen–Loève transform.Michel Loève was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1907, during the Ottoman...
.
Parzen went directly into academia after graduate school, first serving as a research scientist in the physics department and assistant professor of mathematical statistics at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He left there in 1956 for Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he stayed for the next 14 years. During this time, he wrote what has become one of the classical texts in probability theory. In 1970, he accepted the chair of the statistics department at SUNY Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
and in 1978 moved to his current post as a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
.
Awards
- Fellow, American Statistical AssociationAmerican Statistical AssociationThe American Statistical Association , is the main professional US organization for statisticians and related professions. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest, continuously operating professional society in the United States...
- Fellow, Institute of Mathematical StatisticsInstitute of Mathematical StatisticsThe Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts of the world...
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Medal
External links
- Emanual Parzen's faculty web page at Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
- Samuel S. Wilks Award Citations