Mary Gibbons Natrella (September 23, 1922 – May 18, 1988) was an American statistician and "an expert on the application of modern statistical techniques in physical science experimentation and engineering testing". She worked at the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

, where she wrote their Handbook 91, ''Experimental Statistics'' (1963). It became one of their "all-time best selling publications" and has been recognized as "a monumental work" with "deep and long-lasting impact on the application of statistics to the planning and analysis of scientific experiments".

Education and career

Mary Blanche Gibbons was born in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

. After earlier studies at

Keystone College Keystone College is a private college in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Although the college's official mailing address is La Plume, Pennsylvania in Lackawanna County, much of the campus is in Factoryville in Wyoming County. It was founded in 1868. E ...

, she completed a bachelor's degree at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1942. She worked as a mathematician for the U.S. Army Ordnance Department from 1942 to 1945, and as a statistician for the Navy beginning in 1945. In 1946, she married Joseph Victor Natrella, a mathematician for the Air Force who later worked for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. In 1950, she moved from the Navy to the National Bureau of Standards, where she remained until retiring in 1986.

Contributions

Before writing her book, Natrella helped produce defense standard

MIL-STD-105 MIL-STD-105 was a United States defense standard that provided procedures and tables for sampling by attributes based on Walter A. Shewhart, Harry Romig, and Harold F. Dodge sampling inspection theories and mathematical formulas. Widely adopted ...

for

acceptance sampling Acceptance sampling uses statistical sampling to determine whether to accept or reject a production lot of material. It has been a common quality control technique used in industry. It is usually done as products leave the factory, or in some c ...

. At the National Bureau of Standards, she was responsible for teaching statistics to scientists, and "had a special gift for elucidating difficult statistical concepts".

Recognition and legacy

In 1981, Natrella was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

; her brother-in-law, Vito Natrella, was also a Fellow. She was also a fellow of the American Society for Test Materials. She was given the

Department of Commerce Bronze Medal The Department of Commerce Bronze Medal is the third of three honor awards of the United States Department of Commerce. Since 1949, the Bronze Medal is the highest award presented by the head or secretarial officer of an operating unit of the Depar ...

in 1982. She died in 1988 and was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. A scholarship in her and her husband's name is awarded annually by the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...

, funded by a gift from her husband when she died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natrella, Mary Gibbons 1922 births 1988 deaths People from Scranton, Pennsylvania American statisticians Women statisticians University of Pennsylvania alumni Fellows of the American Statistical Association United States Army personnel of World War II