Besse Beulah Day (later known as Besse Day Mauss, 1889–1986) was an American statistician known for her contributions to the statistics of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and naval engineering, and in particular for pioneering the use of

design of experiments The design of experiments (DOE), also known as experiment design or experimental design, is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. ...

in engineering.

Education and career

Day was born in 1889 in Chapel Hill, Missouri. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Central Missouri State Teachers College, and a master's degree in mathematics and statistics in 1927 from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

School of Forestry and Conservation. She worked for the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

from 1927 to 1929 before joining the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

in 1930. In 1943 she moved to

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

to assist the war effort by helping develop a radio-based

proximity fuze A Proximity Fuse (also VT fuse or "variable time fuze") is a fuse that detonates an explosive device automatically when it approaches within a certain distance of its target. Proximity fuses are designed for elusive military targets such as air ...

. After the war she became head of statistics at the United States Naval Engineering Experiment Station in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, and later a consulting statistician for the

Bureau of Ships The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was ...

. As part of her work for the Navy, she transferred her knowledge of the

from forestry to naval engineering, for example using this method to determine which types of steel were susceptible to cracks in

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

. In 1960 she and her husband, contractor Charles E. Mauss, bought a house on South Carolina Avenue in Washington, DC, where they lived until retiring in 1969 to New Oxford, Pennsylvania. She died on September 14, 1986, in New Oxford.

Recognition

Day became a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

in 1951 for being "diligent in the applications of statistical theory to the two widely separated fields of forestry and engineering". She also became a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 1951. In 1958, she was elected to the Washington Academy of Sciences "in recognition of her pioneer work in the statistical design of experiments in many fields particularly those of forestry and engineering and for her unique achievements in the exposition of statistical methods". She was also a fellow of the American Society for Quality Control. Her 1955 paper "The technique of regression analysis" was the 1956 winner of the Brumbaugh Award of the

American Society for Quality The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with more than 30,000 members, in more than 140 countries. History ASQC was established on 16 February ...

, as the year's best contribution to the industrial application of quality control.

Selected publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Besse 1889 births 1996 deaths American statisticians American women statisticians University of Central Missouri alumni University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment alumni Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science