Ellis Raymond Ott (died December 23, 1981) was an American statistician, consultant and educator.

Early life

Ellis Raymond Ott was born in

Dexter, Kansas Dexter is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 224. History The first post office at Dexter was established in July, 1870. Platted in 1875, Dexter is named for a trotting hor ...

, to George W. Ott. In 1928, he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from Southwestern College in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. In 1929, he graduated from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

. He was a member of

Gamma Alpha The Gamma Alpha Graduate Scientific Society () is an American fraternal organization for interdisciplinary graduate students. Its chapters are headquartered in chapter houses, akin to residential cooperatives, though there have been many chapters ...

. Ott taught at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

as a mathematics instructor in 1932. He graduated with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1933. He then worked as a graduate assistant at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

Career

In 1933, Ott became an associate professor of mathematics at the University at Buffalo. He remained there until 1944. Around 1944 in Buffalo, his interest shifted from college algebra to

statistical quality control Statistical process control (SPC) or statistical quality control (SQC) is the application of statistical methods to monitor and control the quality of a production process. This helps to ensure that the process operates efficiently, producing mo ...

as his University at Buffalo colleague Martin A. Brumbaugh began publishing ''Industrial Quality Control''. In 1946, he joined the National Union Radio Corporation in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, as an executive engineer and was in charge at the company of the

of the production of guided missiles. In 1946, he returned to the University at Buffalo. He was a professor of mathematics and assistant dean at the university's Millard Fillmore College until August 1946. At the time, Millard Fillmore College was the University at Buffalo's evening college. Ott then taught at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

from 1946 to his retirement in 1972. While there, he developed statistical courses that turned into bachelor and master of science degree programs. In 1948, he started the annual All-Day Conference on Quality Control and Statistics in Industry. At Rutgers, he taught alongside Harold F. Dodge,

Martin Wilk Martin Bradbury Wilk, (18 December 1922 – 19 February 2013) was a Canadian statistician, academic, and the former chief statistician of Canada. In 1965, together with Samuel Shapiro, he developed the Shapiro–Wilk test, which can indicate ...

and Horace Andrews. He was professor and chairman of the University College Mathematics Department from 1946 to 1959. He was the founding director of the Statistics Center at Rutgers and served as director from 1959 to 1972. Following his retirement in 1972, he was named professor emeritus. He traveled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1952, 1957 and 1962 to teach statistical quality control in association with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He also taught in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He was a consultant and lecturer on quality control in statistics. His clients included

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Bristol Myers The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consiste ...

and

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...

. In April 1937, Ott was elected president of the Buffalo section of the

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Founded in 1920, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is a professional organization for schoolteachers of mathematics in the United States. One of its goals is to improve the standards of mathematics in education. NCTM holds an ...

. In June 1942, he was elected president of the Buffalo chapter of the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...

. He was on the first editorial board of ''Industrial Quality Control'' and served as editor of the practical aids column from 1949 to 1965. The column was later published into a book by Quality Press. He was a founding member and served as vice president of the American Society for Quality Control from 1956 to 1960. In January 1950, he succeeded Harry G. Romig as chairman of the metropolitan section of the American Society for Quality Control. He co-wrote ''College Algebra'' (1940) with Lewis M. Reagan and Daniel T. Sigley. He also wrote ''Process Quality Control: Troubleshooting & Interpretation of Data'' (1975). His book ''Process Quality Control'' was based on his experiences consulting. He also contributed articles and papers to professional journals.

Personal life

Ott married Virginia Elinor Tillia, daughter of Henry John Tillia, of

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, on December 22, 1932. They had three sons, including Steven. In 1946, they lived on Sterling Drive in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

. Later in life, he lived in

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...

. Ott died on December 23, 1981, aged 75, at his home in

Marble Falls, Texas Marble Falls is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city population was 7,037. The 2024 population was estimated to be 9,413. Lake Marble Falls is part of the Highland Lakes on the Colorado ...

Awards and legacy

Ott was elected fellow of the American Society for Quality Control in 1948. He was also named an honorary member. He was also made a fellow of the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

. He was awarded the

Shewhart Medal The Shewhart Medal, named in honour of Walter A. Shewhart, is awarded annually by the American Society for Quality for ''...outstanding technical leadership in the field of modern quality control, especially through the development to its theory, ...

in 1960. He was awarded it for his teaching and his leadership in establishing a university graduate program in quality control and applied statistics. He was a recipient of the Grant Award in 1968. In 1968, he won the Brumbaugh Award for his paper ''Analysis of Means (ANOM) – A Graphical Procedure''. He also won the Hoffer Award. He was the namesake of the Ellis R. Ott Award. Following his death, colleagues of Ott formed the Ellis R. Ott Foundation in tribute. The foundation's goal is to "honor his memory by advancing the goals to which he devoted decades of tireless effort: Applying statistical quality control to maximize industrial productivity and introducing statistical quality control to a broad spectrum of people."

References

External links