In Memory of George Casella

George Casella, 61, passed away on June 17, 2012, after a nine-year battle with multiple myeloma. George was born in the Bronx, NY where he attended the Bronx High School of Science. He received his BA in Math from Fordham and his MS and Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. 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 (checks should be made out to "Purdue Foundation") and sent to:

Hao Zhang
250 North University Street; Department of Statistics
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907

(amended text as published in Gainesville Sun from June 20 to June 21, 2012)