Gertrude Mary Cox

Gertrude Mary Cox (January 13, 1900 – October 17, 1978) was an American statistician and founder of the department of Experimental Statistics at North Carolina State University. She was later appointed director of both the Institute of Statistics of the Consolidated University of North Carolina and the Statistics Research Division of North Carolina State University. Her most important and influential research dealt with experimental design; In 1950 she published the book Experimental Designs, on the subject with W. G. Cochran, which became the major reference work on the design of experiments for statisticians for years afterwards. In 1949 Cox became the first woman elected into the International Statistical Institute and in 1956 was President of the American Statistical Association.

Early life and education Gertrude Cox was born in Dayton, Iowa on January 13, 1900. She studied at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, graduating in 1918. At this time she decided to become a deaconess in the Methodist Church and worked towards that end. However, in 1925, she decided to continue her education at Iowa State College (which was renamed Iowa State University in 1959) in Ames where she studied mathematics and statistics and was awarded a B.S. in 1929 and a Master's degree in statistics in 1931. Here she worked on the design of experiments.

Academic career In 1939 Cox was appointed assistant professor of statistics at Iowa State College. In 1940 Cox was appointed professor of statistics at North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) at Raleigh. There she headed the new department of Experimental Statistics, the first female head of any department at this institution.

Book In 1950 she published a joint work with William Cochran, Experimental Designs, which became the major reference work on the design of experiments for statisticians for years afterwards.

Recognition Cox has received many honors. In 1949, she became the first woman elected into the International Statistical Institute. In 1956, she was elected President of the American Statistical Association while in 1975 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She was also a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

The University of North Carolina system named her an O. Max Gardner Award recipient in 1959. North Carolina State University honored Cox by naming Cox Hall in her honor in 1970, and awarding her a Watauga Medal in 1977. Iowa State College in 1958 awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Science in statistics. The Caucus for Women in Statistics also established a Gertrude M. Cox Scholarship in 1989.