John Wishart (28 November 1898 – 14 July 1956) was a Scottish mathematician and agricultural statistician. He gave his name to the

Wishart distribution In statistics, the Wishart distribution is a generalization of the gamma distribution to multiple dimensions. It is named in honor of John Wishart (statistician), John Wishart, who first formulated the distribution in 1928. Other names include Wi ...

in statistics.

Life

Wishart was born in

Perth, Scotland Perth (; ) is a centrally located Cities of Scotland, Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about ...

on 28 November 1898, the son of Elizabeth Scott and John Wishart of Montrose. His father was a bootmaker. The family moved from Montrose to Perth around 1903, living at 36 Robertsons Buildings on Barrack Street. He was educated at Perth Academy. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was conscripted into the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

in 1917 and served two years in France. He studied mathematics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

under Edmund Taylor Whittaker, graduating with an MA and BSc. He then went on to study at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he gained a further MA. He then gained a doctorate (DSc) at the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

under

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English biostatistician and mathematician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university ...

. After a year of teacher training at Moray College of Education in Edinburgh he then worked for some years as a Mathematics Teacher at West Leeds High School. In 1927 he joined

Rothamsted Experimental Station Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

with

Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who a ...

, and then (from 1931) as a Reader in Statistics in the

where he became the first Director of the Statistical Laboratory in 1953. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1931, his proposers being Edmund Taylor Whittaker, Malcolm Laurie, Alexander Craig Aitken and Robert Schlapp. He edited ''

Biometrika ''Biometrika'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press for the Biometrika Trust. The editor-in-chief is Paul Fearnhead (Lancaster University). The principal focus of this journal is theoretical statistics. It was ...

'' from 1937. In 1950 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. He first formulated a generalised product-moment distribution named the

in his honour, in 1928. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he first served as a Captain in the Intelligence Corps then in 1942 became assistant secretary at the Admiralty. Wishart drowned at the age of 57 in July 1956, having suffered a stroke while swimming in the sea at Revolcadero Beach,

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

. He was in Acapulco as a representative of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, and on a mission to set up a research centre.

Publications

*''Biometrika''

Family

In 1924 he married Olive Pullan Birdsall in Leeds. They had two sons.

Notes

References

* *
Times Obituary
*
First World War service
1898 births 1956 deaths Writers from Perth, Scotland People educated at Perth Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of University College London Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Intelligence Corps officers Rothamsted statisticians Scottish agronomists Scottish schoolteachers Scottish statisticians Accidental deaths in Mexico Deaths by drowning 20th-century Scottish mathematicians 20th-century Scottish educators Cambridge mathematicians 20th-century British agronomists British mathematical statisticians {{UK-statistician-stub