Esther Seiden (; March 9, 1908 – June 3, 2014) was a mathematical statistician known for her research on the

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. ...

and

combinatorial design Combinatorial design theory is the part of combinatorial mathematics that deals with the existence, construction and properties of systems of finite sets whose arrangements satisfy generalized concepts of ''balance'' and/or ''symmetry''. These co ...

theory. In the study of

finite geometry A finite geometry is any geometry, geometric system that has only a finite set, finite number of point (geometry), points. The familiar Euclidean geometry is not finite, because a Euclidean line contains infinitely many points. A geometry based ...

, she introduced the concept of the complement of an

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

, and her work with Rita Zemach on

orthogonal array In mathematics, an orthogonal array (more specifically, a fixed-level orthogonal array) is a "table" (array) whose entries come from a fixed finite set of symbols (for example, ), arranged in such a way that there is an integer ''t'' so that for ev ...

s of strength four was described as "the first significant progress" on the subject.

Early life and education

Seiden was born to a Polish-speaking Jewish middle-class family in

West Galicia New Galicia or West Galicia ( or ''Galicja Zachodnia''; or ''Westgalizien'') was an administrative region of the Habsburg monarchy, constituted from the territory annexed in the course of the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. The Austrian E ...

, and educated at a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

gymnasium in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Against her father's wishes, she went into mathematics. She began her university studies at the

University of Kraków The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the wor ...

but moved after a year to

Stefan Batory University Vilnius University (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a Public university, public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher e ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, where an uncle was a high school mathematics teacher. There, as well as pure mathematics, she also studied physics and

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

. Although she planned a teaching career with the master's degree she earned, her instructors provided support to continue her studies for another year. By that time, violence between anti-Jewish student groups and Jewish counter-protesters in Vilnius had led to the death of a student, so she was sent away to the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

, where she studied logic with

Alfred Tarski Alfred Tarski (; ; born Alfred Teitelbaum;School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews ''School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews''. January 14, 1901 – October 26, 1983) was a Polish-American logician ...

and

Stanisław Leśniewski Stanisław Leśniewski (; 30 March 1886 – 13 May 1939) was a Polish mathematician, philosopher and logician. A professor of mathematics at the University of Warsaw, he was a leading representative of the Lwów–Warsaw School of Logic and is k ...

Activism in Palestine

After completing her studies, Seiden became a schoolteacher at a Jewish school from 1932 to 1934. By this time, she had long felt like a second-class citizen in Europe and wished to move to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. With the help of recommendations from Tarski and one of her Vilnius professors, she obtained admission to the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, which allowed her to move there in 1935. In Palestine, she continued her work as a teacher, and studied mathematics at the Hebrew University under

Abraham Fraenkel Abraham Fraenkel (; 17 February, 1891 – 15 October, 1965) was a German-born Israeli mathematician. He was an early Zionist and the first Dean of Mathematics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is known for his contributions to axiomatic ...

. However, her interest in mathematics diminished as she became involved in the paramilitary

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

and then worked in the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

during World War II.

Statistics

At the end of the war, Seiden came to work for the Palestine Census of Industry and began studying statistics under

Aryeh Dvoretzky Aryeh (Arie) Dvoretzky (, ; May 3, 1916 – May 8, 2008) was a Ukrainian-born Israeli mathematician, the winner of the 1973 Israel Prize in Mathematics. He is best known for his work in functional analysis, statistics and probability. He was t ...

. On the recommendation of Tarski, she entered graduate study in statistics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1947 as an assistant to

Jerzy Neyman Jerzy Spława-Neyman (April 16, 1894 – August 5, 1981; ) was a Polish mathematician and statistician who first introduced the modern concept of a confidence interval into statistical hypothesis testing and, with Egon Pearson, revised Ronald Fis ...

. She began her work in experimental design, a topic she came to through lectures from Berkeley visitor

Raj Chandra Bose Raj Chandra Bose (or Basu) (19 June 1901 – 31 October 1987) was an Indian American mathematician and statistician best known for his work in design theory, finite geometry and the theory of error-correcting codes in which the class of BCH c ...

. She completed her Ph.D. in 1949. Her dissertation, supervised by Neyman, was ''On a problem of confounding in symmetrical factorial design. Contribution to the theory of tests of composite hypotheses''. After shorter positions on the faculties of the

University of 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. ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, and the

Indian Statistical Institute The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a public research university headquartered in Kolkata, India with centers in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tezpur. It was declared an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India und ...

, she moved to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1960. She retired from Michigan State in 1978, only to return to the Hebrew University as a faculty member, and she remained active at the Hebrew University for many more years.

Recognition

In 1976, Seiden was elected as a member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...

. She was also a Fellow of the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiden, Esther 1908 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American mathematicians American statisticians Israeli mathematicians Israeli statisticians 20th-century Polish women 20th-century Polish Jews Polish statisticians Israeli women mathematicians Polish women mathematicians 20th-century Polish mathematicians 21st-century Polish mathematicians Women statisticians Vilnius University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University at Buffalo faculty University of Chicago faculty American University faculty Northwestern University faculty Michigan State University faculty Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics 20th-century American women mathematicians 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics