Kathryn Brenda MacGibbon-Taylor (July 31, 1944 – October 7, 2022) was a Canadian mathematician, statistician, and decision scientist. She was a professor of mathematics at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

and was affiliated with the Group for Research in Decision Analysis.

Education and career

MacGibbon began her career in pure mathematics, at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. She earned a master's degree there in 1966, working with Michael Herschorn on

differential equation In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, an ...

s, and completed a Ph.D. in 1970, with a dissertation on

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...

supervised by Donald A. Dawson. As well as McGill and the Université du Québec à Montréal, she has also been affiliated with the Department of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

in Montreal, where she was hired in 1986. By 1993 she had moved to the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Research

Although MacGibbon's research has covered a wide range of topics in statistics, including applications of statistics in the study of

premenstrual syndrome Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) refers to emotional and physical symptoms that regularly occur in the one to two weeks before the start of each menstrual period. Symptoms resolve around the time menstrual bleeding begins. Different women experienc ...

, and the use of smart shoes to monitor the rehabilitation of patients with

hip fracture A hip fracture is a break that occurs in the upper part of the femur (thigh bone). Symptoms may include pain around the hip, particularly with movement, and shortening of the leg. Usually the person cannot walk. They most often occur as a res ...

s, she was particularly known for her work in theoretical statistics on

minimax estimator In statistical decision theory, where we are faced with the problem of estimating a deterministic parameter (vector) \theta \in \Theta from observations x \in \mathcal, an estimator (estimation rule) \delta^M \,\! is called minimax if its maximal ...

s with constrained parameters.

Recognition

MacGibbon became the first woman to chair the Statistical Sciences Grant Selection Committee of the Canadian

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...

, in 1993. She was 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 o ...

Personal life

MacGibbon was married to John Taylor, with whom she had 3 children. She died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

and

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

on October 7, 2022, at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGibbon, Brenda 1944 births 2022 deaths Deaths from motor neuron disease in Canada Neurological disease deaths in Quebec Canadian women mathematicians Canadian statisticians Canadian women statisticians McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Academic staff of Concordia University Academic staff of the Université du Québec à Montréal Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics