Memorial for David Sprott

The Department of Statistics & Actuarial Science organized a wonderful memorial to pay tribute to Professor David A. Sprott (1930-2013), who passed away on December 13, 2013.

Professor Sprott played a fundamental role for his department and faculty, serving both as founding chair starting in 1967, and also as the founding dean of the Faculty of Mathematics.

Two former deans of the Faculty of Mathematics, Jim and Jack Kalbfleisch, shared memories of their mentor, colleague and friend. Eloisa Diaz-Frances came from the mathematics research centre Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas (CIMAT) in Guanajuato, Mexico, to celebrate Professor Sprott's contributions during the time he spent there. Roman Viveros-Aguilera, professor of statistics at McMaster University and one of Professor Sprott's doctoral students, spoke on behalf of the Sprott family. Retired faculty members Mary Thompson and Jerry Lawless also shared their memories.

Professor Sprott was remembered as a talented fellow who loved to take photos. He was a loving husband and father, an inspiring and stimulating teacher, a passionate statistician, and an influential researcher. It was noted that the Faculty and Department prospered under his leadership. Students supervised by Professor Sprott, in both English and Spanish, have gone on to enjoy successful careers of their own.

Two ongoing tributes were announced at the memorial:

• the annual David Sprott Prize for the top CIMAT student in statistics
• the David Sprott Distinguished Lecture Series in the UWaterloo Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, in recognition of his contributions to the department, fascination with statistics and exceptional research contributions.

The David Sprott Distinguished Lecture Series will begin May 13, 2014. The first lecture will be given by former UWaterloo undergraduate student student Art Owen, who is now Professor of Statistics at Stanford University.