It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Professor George C. Tiao, an internationally renowned statistician, W. Allen Wallis Professor of Econometrics and Statistics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Honorary Professor of Peking University, and Founding Director of the Department of Business Statistics and Econometrics at Guanghua School of Management. Professor Tiao passed away peacefully in Chicago, the United States, on April 25, 2026, local time, at the age of 93. 

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·   Born in London, UK, in November 1933, Professor Tiao returned to China with his family in 1934 and spent his childhood in Jiangjin, Chongqing. During the nationwide war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the subsequent Chinese Civil War, he pursued his studies across multiple regions.

·   He graduated from Taiwan University in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

·   In 1956, he went to the United States for further studies. He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from New York University in 1958 and his PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1962.

·   From 1965 to 1982, he served successively as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, and Bascom Professor of Statistics and Economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and chaired the Department of Statistics from 1973 to 1975.

·   He was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1973, Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 1974, Academician of a leading academic institution in Chinese Taiwan in 1976, and Member of the International Statistical Institute in 1980.

·   In the 1980s, he launched a national examination program for statistics students to pursue advanced studies in the United States, facilitating numerous Chinese scholars to undertake doctoral studies in statistics across America.

·   In 1982, he joined the University of Chicago Booth School of Business as the W. Allen Wallis Professor of Econometrics and Statistics and Director of the Center for Statistical Research, serving in these roles until his retirement.

·   In 1984, at the invitation of the Institute of Applied Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, he delivered his first official lectures in mainland China, boosting the development of statistics in China.

·   In 1987, he initiated and founded the International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA) and served as its founding president.

·   In 1988, he established Statistica Sinica, a top international statistics journal, and acted as its founding Editor-in-Chief from 1988 to 1993.

·   In 2001, invited by Professor Li Yining, then Dean, and Professor Zhang Weiying, then Vice Dean of Guanghua School of Management, he joined Peking University to teach EMBA courses.

·   In the same year, he was awarded the Julius Shiskin Award and the Wilks Memorial Medal by the American Statistical Association.

·   In 2002, he was appointed Honorary Professor of Peking University and took the lead in founding the Department of Business Statistics and Econometrics at Guanghua School of Management, driving the high-quality development of statistics disciplines at Peking University at a critical stage.

·   He officially retired from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2003 while remaining actively engaged in academic research and education.

·   In 2005, he received the Ozone Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of his contributions to environmental statistics, as well as the Statistician of the Year Award from the Chicago Chapter of the American Statistical Association.

·   In 2010, he participated in the establishment of the Center for Statistical Science at Peking University and served as a member of its Scientific Committee. The George C. Tiao Reading Room was officially inaugurated in 2011.

·   In December 2013, Guanghua School of Management held an academic symposium in celebration of Professor Tiao’s 80th birthday, gathering distinguished scholars at home and abroad to pay tribute to him.

Professor Tiao pioneered advances in Bayesian statistics, time series analysis, environmental statistics and other key fields. He co-authored Bayesian Inference in Statistical Analysis with Professor G. E. P. Box. He developed a series of innovative statistical methodologies, including the model-based seasonal adjustment method (in collaboration with S. C. Hillmer), time series outlier analysis (in collaboration with I. Chang), and novel vector autoregressive moving average modeling methods (in collaboration with Ruey S. Tsay). He authored or edited seven monographs and published over 120 academic papers in core journals of econometrics, environmental science and statistics, and supervised more than 25 doctoral students.

As a global leader in statistical research, he founded the International Chinese Statistical Association and served as its first president from 1987 to 1988, alongside his editorship of Statistica Sinica from 1988 to 1993. For two decades from 1979 to 1999, he led and organized the time series workshops jointly sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research and the U.S. National Science Foundation. As a key initiator, he also participated in the annual conference themed “Making Statistics More Effective in Schools of Business” from 1986 to 2006. His distinguished academic honors include lifetime fellowship of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, in addition to the Julius Shiskin Award and the Wilks Memorial Medal received in 2001.

1. Founding Statistics and Econometrics Disciplines at Peking University

As the core founder of the Department of Business Statistics and Econometrics at Guanghua School of Management, he established the first department of its kind among China’s business schools. He personally taught time series courses and facilitated the recruitment of distinguished scholars including Chen Rong, Chen Songxi and Wang Hansheng to serve as department heads and faculty members, building the department into a flagship discipline of Guanghua School of Management.

2. Promoting Rigorous Statistical Concepts and Innovative Spirit

Professor Tiao repeatedly emphasized that “statistics underpins policy-making”, upheld data authenticity and opposed statistical fraud. He advocated the in-depth integration of statistics with life sciences, economics and management, and encouraged independent thinking and interdisciplinary innovation, setting a benchmark for rigorous scholarship and practical application for China’s statistical community.

3. Nurturing Chinese Statistical Talents and Inheriting Academic Heritage

He supervised more than 25 doctoral students throughout his career, many of whom have grown into leading scholars and key professionals in statistics at universities, research institutions and industries across world.

4. Elevating the Global Influence of Chinese Statistics

As a preeminent international statistician, he greatly enhanced the recognition and academic voice of Chinese scholars worldwide. He promoted globally influential research led by Chinese statisticians in time series analysis, Bayesian inference and environmental statistics, accelerating the upgrade of China’s statistical research from follow-up to parallel development. He also organized high-end academic events such as international time series conferences to facilitate in-depth exchanges and collaboration between Chinese and global statistical communities.

Throughout his life, Professor Tiao maintained rigorous scholarship and a deep love for his motherland, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the advancement of global statistics and the development of statistical undertakings in China. His passing is an immense loss to the statistical communities in China and across the world.

His noble character will endure, and his academic spirit will inspire generations to come. We hereby issue this obituary in sincere memory of him.

资料来源: Reference Sources:

https://www.gsm.pku.edu.cn/info/1022/18019.htm

A Conversation with George C. Tiao. Daniel Peña, Ruey S. Tsay. Statistical Science, 2010, Vol. 25, No. 3: 408–428. DOI: 10.1214/09-STS292

《生逢其时》刁锦寰院士回忆录

The ET Interview :Professor George C.Tiao. Ngai Hang Chan. Econometric Theory, 15, 1999, 389–424. Printed in the United States of America.