mathematics

Gertrude Mary Cox

Gertrude Mary Cox is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gertrude Mary Cox rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

Key takeaways

Gertrude Mary Cox belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gertrude Mary Cox to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gertrude Mary Cox from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. From 1931 to 1933 Cox undertook graduate studies in psychological statistics at the University of California at Berkeley, then returned to Iowa State College to assist in establishing the new Statistical Laboratory. 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. In 1945 she became director of the Institute of Statistics of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, and the Statistics Research Division of the North Carolina State College which was run by William Gemmell Cochran. In the same year of 1945 Cox became the editor of Biometrics Bulletin and of Biometrics and she held this editorship for 10 years. When prolific statistician and eugenicist Ronald Fisher founded the International Biometric Society in 1947, Cox was one of the founding members. In 1960 she took up her final post as Director of Statistics at the Research Triangle Institute in Durham, North Carolina. She held this post until she retired in 1965. After retirement, then worked as a consultant to promote the development of statistical programs in Egypt and Thailand.

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.

References

External links Gertrude Mary Cox Collection, 1918-1983 (North Carolina State University Libraries) "Gertrude Cox", Biographies of Women Mathematicians, Agnes Scott College Guide to the Gertrude Cox Letters to Julie McVay 1963–1971 MacTutor biography Archived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine ASA: Gertrude M. Cox NC State University Gertrude Cox Award

This article incorporates material from Gertrude Cox on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gertrude Mary Cox

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gertrude Mary Cox claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gertrude Mary Cox before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gertrude Mary Cox ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gertrude Mary Cox

In research: Gertrude Mary Cox appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gertrude Mary Cox in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gertrude Mary Cox is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1900 births, 1978 deaths, 20th-century American statisticians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gertrude Mary Cox outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gertrude Mary Cox in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gertrude Mary Cox means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gertrude Mary Cox out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gertrude Mary Cox in simple terms?

Why does Gertrude Mary Cox matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gertrude Mary Cox?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gertrude Mary Cox.