Abraham Wald

Abraham Wald (October 31 1902 Kolozsvár, Hungary (now Cluj, Romania) - December 13 1950 Travancore, India)

Related Topics:
October 31 - 1902 - Kolozsvár - Hungary - Cluj - Romania - December 13 - 1950 - Travancore - India

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was a mathematician who contributed to decision theory, geometry, and econometrics, and founded the field of statistical sequential analysis.

Related Topics:
Decision theory - Geometry - Econometrics - Statistical sequential analysis

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Being a religious Jew, he could not attend school on Saturdays, as was required at the time by the Hungarian school system, and was thus home-schooled by his parents until college (no disadvantage for him, as his parents were quite knowledgeable and competent as teachers).

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In 1927, he entered graduate school at the University of Vienna, from which he graduated in 1931 with a Ph.D. in mathematics. His advisor there was Karl Menger.

Related Topics:
1927 - University of Vienna - 1931 - Karl Menger

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When the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938, he and his family were persecuted as Jews. He was able to emigrate to the United States, at the invitation of the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics, to work on econometrics research.

Related Topics:
Nazi - Austria - United States - Cowles Commission for Research in Economics

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He died in an airplane crash in India while on an extensive lecture tour at the invitation of the Indian government.

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