Ross Ihaka | |
---|---|
Born | George Ross Ihaka 1954 (age 69–70) |
Alma mater |
University of Auckland University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
Known for | R programming language |
Awards | Pickering Medal (2008) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Statistical computing |
Institutions | University of Auckland |
Thesis | Rūaumoko (1985) |
Doctoral advisor | David R. Brillinger [1] |
Website |
www |
George Ross Ihaka (born 1954 [2]) is a New Zealand statistician who was an associate professor of statistics at the University of Auckland until his retirement in 2017. [3] Alongside Robert Gentleman, he is one of the creators of the R programming language. [4] [5] [6] In 2008, Ihaka received the Pickering Medal, awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand, for his work on R. [7]
Ihaka completed his undergraduate education at the University of Auckland, and obtained his PhD in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley supervised by David R. Brillinger. [1] His thesis was on statistical modelling for seismic interferometry and was titled Rūaumoko, after the god of earthquakes, volcanoes and seasons in Māori mythology. [1] [8] [9]
As of 2010, he was working on a new statistical programming language based on Lisp. [10] [11] The Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland started a public lecture series in his honour in 2017. [12]
Ihaka is of Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne and Ngati Pākehā (New Zealand European) descent. [6] [13]