George Box

Shorewood Hills - George E. P. Box "Pel", age 93, died on Thursday, March 28, 2013 at home. He was much loved and will be missed by many. A celebration of his life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 5, 2013, at First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison.
Pel was born in Gravesend, Kent, England in 1919. Born into modest means, both he and his brother Jack earned scholarships in order to attend the more elite public school in Kent. Pel began his scientific life as a chemist, publishing his first paper at the age of 19 on the activated sludge process to produce clean effluent. Understanding the dangers of fascism, he abandoned his education and enlisted in the army on the very first day he was eligible. During his six years in the army he eventually was sent to Porton Down Experimental Station to study the potential impact of poison gases. George realized that only a statistician could get reliable results from experiments so he taught himself statistics and a career was born.
After the war, George worked at Imperial Chemical Industries for eight years, spending 1953, however, at North Carolina State where he met some of the pre-eminent statisticians of the day. After working again in England for a few years, he left ICI and went to Princeton University in 1956 to direct a statistical research group. George came to Madison in 1959 establish the University of Wisconsin's Department of Statistics in 1960 and retired as an emeritus professor in 1992, though he continued to contribute research papers and write books until his death.
George co-founded the UW Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement with William "Bill" Hunter in 1985. He wrote and co-authored major statistical books on evolutionary operation, times-series, Bayesian analysis, the design of experiments, statistical control, and quality improvement. George loved his students and was proud all their contributions. His last book, a memoir called, An Accidental Statistician: The Life and Memories of G.E.P. Box, is soon to be published by Wiley.
George received many honors, including being elected Vilas Research Professor of Statistics at the UW Madison in 1980, and a Fellow of the
Royal Society, in 1985.
George is remembered for his long-running Monday Night Beer and Statistics sessions, held at his house and open to all campus researchers and students. He provided analysis and suggestions, and many students later said that they learned more from these sessions than from any classroom or textbook.
Pel had encyclopedic knowledge of song lyrics and almost every poem or verse he had every heard. His favorite book, however, was Alice in Wonderland. We also remember his skits and songs such as "There's No Theorem Like Bayes' Theorem." We treasure him for his wit, modesty, kindness and warmth; his love of family and friends.
He is survived by his wife Claire Quist Box; his former wife, Joan Gunhild Box; their daughter Helen Elizabeth Box (Tom Murtha) and children Isaac and Andy of Oak Park, IL; son Harry Christopher Box (Stacey) and children Henry and Eliza of Cummington, MA; son Simon (Wendy) and children Mark, Emma, and great grand-daughter Olivia. He is also survived by the loving family of his late brother Jack: Michael (Angela) and children Sarah and Timothy; Roger (Jean); Margaret (Kevin) and son James; and Dana (John) and children Katie and Charlie.
A special thanks to Agrace Hospice in Madison for their steadfast and kind support. Heartfelt thanks for the loving care provided by Kolleen Bakkum and 3 year old Lincoln and deep gratitude to Gary (Frankie) Johnson for his many years of friendship and support. George was buried on April 2 at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability in the Natural Path Sanctuary.
If you want to honor the memory of George, contributions could be made to UW Foundation-George Box Endowment Fund (for the support of graduate students) US Bank Lock Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI 53278; Agrace HospiceCare., 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway Madison, WI 53711.
And a last message from George, "Experiment! Make it your motto day and night. Experiment, And it will lead you to the light ...Be Curious, ...Get Furious... Experiment, And you'll see!" Cole Porter