Edward Tufte
American statistician (b.1942) noted for his writings on information design
Edward Rolf Tufte ( ; born March 14, 1942), sometimes known as "ET", is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization.
Early life and education
Edward Rolf Tufte was born in 1942 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Virginia Tufte (1918–2020) and Edward E. Tufte (1912–1999). He grew up in Beverly Hills, California, where his father was a longtime city official. He graduated from the public Beverly Hills High School.
Tufte received a BS and a MS in statistics from Stanford University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from Yale University. His dissertation was completed in 1968 and titled The Civil Rights Movement and Its Opposition.
Career
Tufte was hired in 1967 by the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University as a lecturer in politics and public affairs, where he steadily moved up to the rank of full Professor in 1972. He taught courses there in political economy and data analysis while publishing three quantitatively inclined political science books.
In 1975, while at Princeton, Tufte was asked to teach a statistics course to a group of journalists who were visiting the school to study economics.
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