Dear Members of the ISI Community,
It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the passing of Edward Melnick, Professor Emeritus of Statistics and former Chair of the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at the New York University Stern School of Business on 8 September 2024. Ed was a distinguished statistician, an Elected Member of ISI, and a member of ISBIS. He was also a Fellow of ASA and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Ed’s career spanned several decades, during which he made significant contributions to the field of statistics, leaving an indelible mark on both academia and industry.
Ed received a BA in Psychology from Lehigh University in 1960 and an MSc in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic in 1963. He earned a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from George Washington University in 1970. He joined the Stern faculty in 1969 and served as Chair of the Statistics and Operations Research Department (now part of the Department of Technology, Operations, and Statistics), guiding the department through a period of significant transformation. Ed was known for his dedication to teaching and mentoring, and he supervised six doctoral theses. A gifted teacher, he received the Stern Excellence in Teaching Award and the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award, and he was selected for the Excellence in Teaching Award 13 times for the Executive MBA Programme. He worked tirelessly to improve the Statistics PhD programme and to bring world-class statisticians and econometricians for extended visits to the department, thereby enhancing the research environment. A prolific researcher, he focused on the formulation of analytical models and the development of statistical methodology for data analysis. His work, primarily in the study of order statistics and the analysis and modelling of time series data, is highly regarded in the field.
Ed had an amazing personality. A memorial gathering for Ed, organised at the Stern School of Business on Tuesday, 4 March 2025, was a poignant moment for his family and his extended NYU family to remember his kindness and generosity, his dedication to research, teaching, and service, his strong love for his family, friends, and students, and his keen sense of humour. We will all miss him.
