Statistics Professor Retires After 30 Years Of Service To Penn State

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University Park, Pa. -- Robert A. Hultquist, professor of statistics, has retired from the Eberly College of Science after 30 years of service. After receiving degrees from Alfred University, Purdue University and Oklahoma State University, he joined the faculty of Penn State in 1966 as an associate professor of mathematics and statistics. He became full professor in 1971.

Hultquist concentrated on being a good teacher and advisor to his students during his career. "I was blessed in that I had wonderful teachers myself," Hultquist says, recalling, in particular, the basketball and football coach who sparked his interest in experimental design and started him on his career in statistics by asking him to design the sequence of rotation and order of events of a large sports tournament. "I developed good study habits myself because I didn't ever want to get embarrassed during class, and this experience carried over to my teaching methods because I made sure the students were there and turned in their assignments," Hultquist says. "I just wanted to continue going to school and that's what I did for my entire life."

During his career at Penn State, Hultquist consulted with Kodak; Westinghouse; IBM; Eagle Picher; the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the U.S. Army. He was a visiting professor at Cornell University, a statistical consultant at the University of New Hampshire and a visiting professor for the National Science Institutes at New Hampshire University, Southeastern Oklahoma University, and Oklahoma State University.

He has co-authored several articles and reviews, authored several book chapters and is the author of the instructional book, "The Introduction to Statistics" (Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston).

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Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy, phone: 814-863-4682; science@psu.edu url: http://www.science.psu.edu/