C. R.

Rao

Prof. Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao FRS (10 September 1920 – 22 August 2023) was an Indian-
American mathematician and statistician.[4] He was professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State
University and research professor at the University at Buffalo. Rao was honoured by numerous
colloquia, honorary degrees, and festschrifts and was awarded the US National Medal of Science in
2002.[5] The American Statistical Association has described him as "a living legend" whose work has
influenced not just statistics, but has had far reaching implications for fields as varied as
economics, genetics, anthropology, geology, national planning, demography, biometry, and
medicine."[5] The Times of India listed Rao as one of the top 10 Indian scientists of all time.[6]

In 2023, Rao was awarded the International Prize in Statistics,[7] an award often touted as the
"statistics' equivalent of the Nobel Prize".[8] Rao was also a Senior Policy and Statistics advisor for
the Indian Heart Association non-profit focused on raising South Asian cardiovascular disease
awareness.[9]

Early life

C. R. Rao was the eighth of the ten children born to a Telugu Velama family[10][1] in Hoovina
Hadagali, Bellary, Madras Presidency, Britain ruled India (now in Vijayanagara, Karnataka, India). His
schooling was completed in Gudur, Nuzvid, Nandigama, and Visakhapatnam, all in the present state
of Andhra Pradesh.[2] He received an MSc in mathematics from Andhra University and an MA in
statistics from Calcutta University in 1943.[5] He obtained a PhD degree at King's College,
Cambridge, under R. A. Fisher in 1948, to which he added a DSc degree, also from Cambridge, in
1965.[11]

Career

Rao first worked at the Indian Statistical Institute and the Anthropological Museum in Cambridge.
Later he held several important positions, as the Director of the Indian Statistical Institute,
Jawaharlal Nehru Professor and National Professor in India, University Professor at the University of
Pittsburgh and Eberly Professor and Chair of Statistics and Director of the Center for Multivariate
Analysis at Pennsylvania State University.[12]

As Head and later Director of the Research and Training School at the Indian Statistical Institute,
India for a period of over 40 years, Rao developed research and training programs and produced
several leaders in the field of Mathematics. On
C. R. Rao
the basis of Rao's recommendation, the Asian
FRS
Statistical Institute (ASI), now known as the
Statistical Institute for Asia and Pacific, was
established in Tokyo to provide training to
statisticians working in government and industrial
organisations.[13]

Among his best-known discoveries are the

Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), Rao
Distance[14], Rao's Score test,[15] Rao's Quadratic
Entropy, Cramér–Rao bound and the Rao–
Blackwell theorem these are related to the quality
of estimators.[16] Majority of the publications
Rao in 2012
were during his time period in Indian Statistical
Institute in 60 years of his career. Other areas he Born Calyampudi
worked in include multivariate analysis, Radhakrishna Rao
estimation theory, and differential geometry. His 10 September 1920
Hoovina Hadagali,
other contributions include the Fisher–Rao
Madras Presidency,
theorem, Rao distance, and orthogonal arrays. He
British India
was the author of 15 books[12] and authored over
(present day
400 journal publications. Vijayanagara,
Karnataka, India)[1][2]
Rao received 38 honorary doctoral degrees from
universities in 19 countries around the world and Died 22 August 2023
numerous awards and medals for his (aged 102)
contributions to statistics and science. He was a Buffalo, New York,

member of eight National Academies in India, the U.S.

United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy. Rao Citizenship Indian (until 1995)
was awarded Santhi Swarup Bhatnagar Award in American (1995–
1963 and followed by Padma Bhushan in 1968. 2023)[3]
Rao was awarded the United States National
Education Andhra University
Medal of Science, that nation's highest award for
(MA)
lifetime achievement in fields of scientific
University of Calcutta
research, in June 2002. He was given the India (MA)
Science Award in 2010, the highest honour King's College,
conferred by the government of India in a
scientific domain. He was most recently Cambridge (PhD,
honoured with his 38th honorary doctorate by the DSc)

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, on 26

Known for Multivariate
July 2014 for "his contributions to the statistical theory
foundations of modern statistics through the Cramér–Rao bound
introduction of concepts such as Cramér–Rao Rao–Blackwell
inequality, Rao–Blackwellization, Rao distance, theorem

Rao measure, and for introducing the idea of Orthogonal arrays

Score test
orthogonal arrays for the industry to design high-
quality products." Awards Padma Bhushan
(1968)
Rao was the President of the International
Padma Vibhushan
Statistical Institute, Institute of Mathematical (2001)
Statistics (USA), and the International Biometric National Medal of
Society. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Science (2001)
India's National Institution for Quality and S. S. Bhatnagar Prize
Reliability (Chennai Branch) for his contribution to (1963)

industrial statistics and the promotion of quality Guy Medal (Silver 1965,
Gold 2011)
control programs in industries.
International Prize in
The Journal of Quantitative Economics published Statistics (2023)

a special issue in Rao's honour in 1991: "Dr. Rao is

Scientific career
a very distinguished scientist and a highly
eminent statistician of our time. His contributions Fields Mathematics and
Statistics
to statistical theory and applications are well
known, and many of his results, which bear his Institutions Indian Statistical
name, are included in the curriculum of courses in Institute
statistics at bachelor's and master's level all over Cambridge University
the world. He was an inspiring teacher and has Pennsylvania State

guided the research work of numerous students University

University at Buffalo
in all areas of statistics. His early work had
greatly influenced the course of statistical Thesis Statistical Problems
research during the last four decades. One of the of Biological
purposes of this special issue is to recognise Dr. Classifications
Rao's own contributions to econometrics and (1948)

acknowledge his major role in the development of Doctoral advisor Ronald Fisher
econometric research in India."
Areas of research contributions Doctoral students [show]

Estimation theory

Statistical inference and linear models

Multivariate analysis

Combinatorial design

Orthogonal arrays

Biometry

Statistical genetics

Generalized matrix inverses

Functional equations

Death

Rao died in Buffalo, New York on 22 August 2023, aged 102.[17][18][19][20]

Obituaries describing his professional contributions and impact on the society have been published
in the IMS Bulletin [1] ([Link] and Nature [2]
([Link] .

Awards and medals

Guy Medal in Gold (2011) of the Royal Statistical Society

India Science Award 2010 (the highest award in a scientific field presented by government of
India)[21]

International Mahalanobis Prize (2003) of the International Statistical Institute[22]

Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal (2003) of the Indian National Science Academy

Sardar Patel Lifetime Achievement International Award (Sardar Ratna) (2014) by Sardar Patel
International Foundation, India[23]
 President George W. Bush, on 12 June 2002, honoured him with the National Medal of Science,
the highest award in US in the scientific field, as a "prophet of new age" with the citation, "for his
pioneering contributions to the foundations of statistical theory and multivariate statistical
methodology and their applications, enriching the physical, biological, mathematical, economic
and engineering sciences."

Padma Vibhushan (2001) by the Government of India[24]

Mahalanobis Centenary Gold Medal (1993?) of the Indian Science Congress

Wilks Memorial Award (1989) of the American Statistical Association

Padma Bhushan (1968)[24]

Megnadh Saha Medal (1969) of the Indian National Science Academy

Guy Medal in Silver (1965) of the Royal Statistical Society

S. S. Bhatnagar Award (1963) of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

JC Bose Gold Medal of the Bose Institute

Gold Medal of the University of Calcutta

He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Calcutta in 2003.[25] Also
honorary doctorates from a number of universities and institutes around the world.
2023 International Prize in Statistics

In his honour

The Pennsylvania State University has established C. R. and Bhargavi Rao Prize in Statistics

CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science

National Award in Statistics established by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

(MoSPI), Government of India.

The road from IIIT Hyderabad passing along Central University of Hyderabad crossroads to Alind
Factory, Lingampally is named as "Prof. C.R. Rao Road".[26]

Selected publications

Books

2020. PEREIRA, B. de B.; RAO, Calyampudi Radhakrishna.; OLIVEIRA, F. B.;Statistical Learning

Using Neural Networks: A Guide for Statisticians and Data Scientists with Python, CRC Press,
London.

2017. Book Review: Multivariate Statistical Methods, A Primer ([Link]

jmasm/vol16/iss1/41/)

2016. (with Lovric, M.) Testing Point Null Hypothesis of a Normal Mean and the Truth: 21st
Century Perspective ([Link]

2009. (with PEREIRA, B. de B.) Data Mining Using Neural Networks: A Guide for Statisticians.
State College, Pennsylvania, 2009. 186 p.

1999. (with Helge Toutenburg, Andreas Fieger et al.). Linear Models: Least Squares and
Alternatives, 2ed, Springer Series in Statistics. Springer

1998. (with M. Bhaskara Rao). Matrix Algebra & Its Applications to Statistics & Econometrics. World
Scientific

1997. Statistics And Truth: Putting Chance To Work, 2ed. Wspc

1996. Principal Component and Factor Analyses. PN

1996. Extensions of a Characterization of an Exponential Distribution Based on a Censored Ordered

Sample.

1996. Bootstrap by Sequential Resampling. PN

1993. Applications of Multivariate Analysis. PN

1992. Signal Estimation, Multitarget Tracking and Related Areas.

1989. Multivariate Analysis and Its Applications. PN

1988. Linear Transformations, Projection Operators and Generalized Inverses; A Geometric

Approach. PN

1984. Recent Results on Characterization of Probability Distributions: A unified Approach through

Extensions of Deny's Theorem. PN

1973. Linear Statistical Inference and Its Applications, 2nd Edition. Wiley-Interscience

1973. On a Unified Theory of Estimation in Linear Models. PN

1973. (with A.M. Kagan et al.). Characterization Problems in Mathematical Statistics, Wiley Series
in Probability & Mathematical Statistics.

1972. (with Sujit Kumar Mitra). Generalized Inverse of Matrices and Its Applications, Probability &
Mathematical Statistics. John Wiley & Sons
 1963. Essays on econometrics and planning. Statistical Pub. Society

Edited volumes

2015. (Ed. with Marepalli B. Rao). Handbook of Statistics 32: Computational Statistics with. Elsevier

2013. (Ed. with Venu Govindaraju). Handbook of Statistics 31: Machine Learning: Theory and
Applications. North Holland

2012. (Ed. with Tata Subba Rao and Suhasini Subba Rao). Handbook of Statistics 30: Time Series
Analysis: Methods and Applications . North Holland

2012. (Ed. with Ranajit Chakraborty and Pranab K. Sen). Handbook of Statistics 28: Bioinformatics
in Human Health and Heredity. North Holland

2011. (Ed. with Dipak K. Dey). Essential Bayesian Models. North Holland

2011. (Ed. with Danny Pfeffermann). Essential Methods for Design Based Sample Surveys. North
Holland

2009. (Ed. with Danny Pfeffermann). Handbook of Statistics 29A: Sample Surveys: Design, Methods
and Applications. North Holland

2009. (Ed. with Danny Pfeffermann). Handbook of statistics 29B Sample Surveys: Inference and
Analysis. North Holland

2007. (Ed. with J. Philip Miller and D.C. Rao). Handbook of Statistics 27: Epidemiology and Medical
Statistics. North Holland

2006. (Ed. with Sandip Sinharay). Handbook of Statistics, Volume 26: Psychometrics. North
Holland

2005. (Ed. with Dipak K. Dey). Handbook of Statistics 25: Bayesian Thinking, Modeling and
Computation. North Holland

2005. (Ed.). Handbook of Statistics 24: Data Mining and Data Visualization. North Holland

2004. (Ed. with N. Balakrishnan). Handbook of Statistics 23: Advances in Survival Analysis. North
Holland

2003. (Ed. with Ravindra Khattree). Handbook of Statistics 22: Statistics in Industry. North Holland

2001. (Ed. with N. Balakrishnan). Handbook of Statistics 20: Advances in Reliability, North-Holland
Mathematics Studies. Elsevier

2001. (Ed. with D. N. Shanbhag). Handbook of Statistics 19: Stochastic Processes: Theory and
Methods. North-Holland
 2000. (Ed. with Pranab Kumar Sen). Handbook of Statistics 18: Bioenvironmental and Public Health
Statistics. North-Holland

1998. (Ed. with N. Balakrishnan). Handbook of Statistics 17: Order Statistics: Applications. North-
Holland

1998. (Ed. with N. Balakrishnan). Handbook of Statistics 16: Order Statistics: Theory & Methods.
North-Holland

1997. (Ed. with G.S. Maddala). Handbook of Statistics 15: Robust Inference. Elsevier

1996. (Ed. with G.S. Maddala). Handbook of Statistics 14: Statistical Methods in Finance. Elsevier

1996. (Ed. with S. Ghosh). Handbook of Statistics 13: Design and Analysis of Experiments. North
Holland

1994. (Ed. with G.P. Patil). Handbook of Statistics 12: Environmental Statistics. Elsevier

1994. (Ed. with G.P. Patil). Multivariate Environmental Statistics., Volume 6 in North-Holland Series
in Statistics and Probability. North Holland

1993. (Ed. with G. S. Maddala and H. D. Vinod). Handbook of Statistics 11: Econometrics,
Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry. Elsevier

1993. (Ed. with N. K. Bose). Handbook of Statistics 10: Signal Processing and its Applications,
Elsevier

1993. (Ed.). Handbook of Statistics 9: Computational Statistics. North-Holland

1991. (Ed. with R. Chakraborty). Handbook of Statistics 8: Statistical Methods in Biological and
Medical Sciences. North-Holland.

1988. (Ed. with Krishnaiah P.R.). Handbook of Statistics 7: Quality Control and Reliability.

1988. (Ed. with P. R. Krishnaiah). Handbook of Statistics 6: Sampling. North-Holland.

1969. (Ed. with R. C. Bose, I. M. Chakravarti et al.). Essays in Probability and Statistics, Monograph
Series in Probability and Statistics. The University of North Carolina Press

Textbooks

1970. Advanced Statistical Methods in Biometric Research. Macmillan

Collected works
1996. Selected Papers of C.R. Rao 3. (Ed). S. Das Gupta et al. Wiley-Interscience
 1995. Advances in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics, Essays in Honor of Professor C.R.
Rao. (Eds.) G. S. Maddala, T. N. Srinivasan, and Peter C. B. Phillips. Wiley-Blackwell

1994. Selected Papers of C.R. Rao 2. (Ed). S. Das Gupta et al. Wiley-Interscience

1994. Selected Papers of C.R. Rao 1. (Ed). S. Das Gupta et al. Wiley-Interscience

1982. Statistics and Probability: Essays in Honor of C. R. Rao. (Ed.). Kallinapur. Elsevier

References

1. Nielsen, Frank (1 December 2016). "Interview with Professor Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao" (h
ttps://[Link]/blog/2016/12/01/raointerview/) . Amstat News.

2. Prakasa Rao, B. L. S. (10 September 2014). "C. R. Rao: A life in statistics" ([Link]
[Link]/Volumes/107/05/[Link]) (PDF). Current Science. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

3. "The Numberdars" ([Link]

m/coverstory/the-numberdars-6380) . The Times of India. 1 October 2011. Archived from the
original ([Link] on 23 March 2016.

4. "The Numberdars" ([Link]

m/coverstory/the-numberdars-6380) . Times Crest. 1 October 2001. Archived from the
original ([Link] on 23 March 2016.
Retrieved 14 March 2016.

5. "Statisticians in History: Calyampudi R. Rao" ([Link]

ttp://[Link]/about/statisticiansinhistory/[Link]?fuseaction=biosinfo&BioID=1
3) . American Statistical Association. 30 November 2016. Archived from the original ([Link]
[Link]/about/statisticiansinhistory/[Link]?fuseaction=biosinfo&BioID=13) on 3
March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2009.

6. "[Link] in News" ([Link] . [Link] Advanced Institute of

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science.

7. "International Prize in Statistics" ([Link] . [Link]. Retrieved

10 April 2023.

8. Biswas, Atanu (8 April 2023). "C.R. Rao wins top statistics award – a look back at his
pioneering work" ([Link]
ics-2023-pioneering-contributions/[Link]) . The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X (http
s://[Link]/issn/0971-751X) . Retrieved 10 April 2023.