Introduction



In 1933, the American Statistical Association, the only organization that focused on the study of statistics at the time, discontinued financial support for the Annals of Mathematical Statistics, the only publication that would accept statistical research with any mathematical content. Afterwards, Harry Carver personally funded the Annals while also serving as its editor and teaching at the University of Michigan. In 1935, 89 statisticians and mathematicians interested in statistical research with mathematical content received a letter from Allen Craig. At that organizational meeting in Ann Arbor, they established the Institute for Mathematical Statistics (IMS). The founding of the IMS symbolized the acceptance of the theoretical and mathematical study of statistics. In its early years, people would not identify as statisticians and most who utilized statistics viewed it merely as a tool for analyzing social trends or problems. This project documents the individuals as well as the organizations that brought credibility to the discipline of mathematical statistics. 

Source: Hogg, Robert V. "On the Origins of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics." Statistical Science 1, no. 2 (1986): 285-91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2245454