A Conversation with J. Stuart (Stu) Hunter

Abstract

J. Stuart (Stu) Hunter has been an inspiration and mentor to a generation of statisticians, especially to those working in industry. Born on June 3, 1923 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Stu moved to Linden, New Jersey at the age of 2 where he spent the rest of his childhood, graduating from high school at age 16. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1947, he went on to receive a master’s degree in applied mathematics in 1949 and a PhD in statistics in 1954, all from North Carolina State. His research centered on experimental design, in particular the study of fractional factorial designs and response surface methods. He was the founding editor of Technometrics. Stu joined the faculty at Princeton University as an assistant professor in the Engineering School in 1961. He was a first-rate teacher, and his courses at Princeton were often rated among the top courses at the University. The interviewer had the good fortune to take his Engineering Statistics course in 1970 which began a life-long friendship. Stu was a consultant for many companies and the co-author of the influential book Statistics for Experimenters with George Box and William Hunter. His short courses in industry were legendary. He served as the 1993 president of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and has received many honors and awards from the ASA, the ASQ and other organizations. In 2005, he was named as a fellow to the National Academy of Engineering. The Stu Hunter Research Conference was established in 2012 to “honor one of the pioneers in applied statistics.” Stu retired from Princeton in 1984, but remains active consulting, mentoring and traveling to this day.