Yuan-Shih Chow (,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: Zhōu Yuánshēn; 1 September 1924 – 3 March 2022), also known as Y. S. Chow or Zhou Yuanshen, was a Chinese and American probabilist. He was Professor Emeritus,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, United States. Chow served as director-general of the Institute of Mathematics,

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

, and director of the Center of Applied Statistics,

Nankai University Nankai University (NKU or Nankai; ) is a national public research university located in Tianjin, China. It is a prestigious Chinese state Class A Double First Class University approved by the central government of China, and a member of the fo ...

(

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

). He was an academician of the Academia Sinica.

Life

Chow was born in Zhouwan Village, Zhangnan County,

Xiangfan Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He entered the (National) Hechuan No.2 Meddile School (). But because of the Japanese invasion, he left his hometown and finished his high school education in

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

- the capital of China during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

. He became a student of the Department of Mathematics, National Chekiang University (

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

) and he was a student of

Su Buqing Su Buqing, also spelled Su Buchin (; September 23, 1902 – March 17, 2003), was a Chinese mathematician, educator and poet. He was the founder of differential geometry in China, and served as president of Fudan University and honorary chairman ...

. About 1949, he went to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and taught Mathematics at the

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. In July 1954, following the advice of

Chung Tao Yang Chung Tao Yang, or Chung-Tao Yang, Yang Zhongdao (Traditional Chinese: 楊忠道, Simplified Chinese: 杨忠道, Pinyin: Yáng Zhòngdào) (May 4, 1923 – 2005), was a notable Chinese American topologist. He was an academician of the Academia Si ...

, Chow went to USA. He entered the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

and studied under the guidance of

Joseph Leo Doob Joseph Leo Doob (February 27, 1910 – June 7, 2004) was an American mathematician, specializing in analysis and probability theory. The theory of martingales was developed by Doob. Early life and education Doob was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, ...

. In 1958, he received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

. He became a staff member at the IBM Watson Research Laboratory, later at Columbia University till 1962. 1962–1968, he served in the Statistics Department,

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. 1968–1993, he was the Professor of Mathematical Statistics, Columbia University. He was also a visiting professor at different universities including the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, the

National Central University National Central University (NCU, ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Kwet-li̍p Chung-yong Thài-ho̍k'', Wade–Giles: ''Kuo2 Li4 Chung Yang Ta4 Hsüeh2'' or ''中大'', ''Chung-ta'') is a public research university with long-standing traditions based in Taiwa ...

in Taiwan, the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in Germany. He was Professor Emeritus, Columbia University. Chow died in Hubei province on 3 March 2022, at the age of 97.

Membership

* Fellow,

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 ...

(1966 election) * Fellow,

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...

(1980 election) * Academician,

(1974 election)

Books by him

* ''Probability Theory: Independence, Interchangeability, Martingales'', (with Henry Teicher),

Springer Verlag Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

, * ''The Theory of Optimal Stopping'', with

Herbert Robbins Herbert Ellis Robbins (January 12, 1915 – February 12, 2001) was an American mathematician and statistician. He did research in topology, measure theory, statistics, and a variety of other fields. He was the co-author, with Richard Courant ...

and

David Siegmund __NOTOC__ David Oliver Siegmund (born November 15, 1941) is an American statistician who has worked extensively on sequential analysis.

, 1971 Amazon.com: The Theory of Optimal Stopping: Books: Yuan Shih Chow
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References

External links

A Conversation with Yuan Shih Chow
abstract (English)
A Conversation with Yuan Shih Chow pdf version, full biography including photos
by

Zhiliang Ying Zhiliang Ying (; born April 1960) is a Professor of Statistics in the Department of Statistics, Columbia University. He served as co-chair of the department. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 1987, with Tze Leung Lai as his doctor ...

and Cun-Hui Zhang(English)
Archive at Harvard University
(English)

Chinese)
Chow's résumé
(Chinese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Yuan Shih 1924 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Chinese mathematicians 21st-century Chinese mathematicians Chinese expatriates in the United States Zhejiang University alumni American statisticians Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Chinese statisticians Nankai University faculty Columbia University faculty Educators from Hubei People from Xiangyang National Taiwan University faculty Mathematicians from Hubei