Grace Wahba

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American statistician

title: "Grace Wahba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1934-births", "living-people", "american-women-statisticians", "fellows-of-the-american-statistical-association", "members-of-the-united-states-national-academy-of-sciences", "fellows-of-the-society-for-industrial-and-applied-mathematics", "university-of-wisconsin–madison-faculty", "cornell-university-alumni", "university-of-maryland,-college-park-alumni", "stanford-university-alumni", "bayesian-statisticians", "fellows-of-the-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences", "fellows-of-the-american-association-for-the-advancement-of-science", "fellows-of-the-institute-of-mathematical-statistics", "machine-learning-researchers", "20th-century-american-women-mathematicians", "21st-century-american-women-mathematicians", "20th-century-american-women-scientists", "21st-century-american-women-scientists", "american-mathematical-statisticians", "20th-century-american-statisticians", "21st-century-american-statisticians"] description: "American statistician" topic_path: "science/mathematics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Wahba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American statistician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox scientist"]

FieldValue
nameGrace Wahba
imageGrace Wahba 1986.jpg
captionWahba in 1986
birth_date
nationalityAmerican
fieldsMathematics, statistics, machine learning
workplacesUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
alma_materStanford University
University of Maryland, College Park
Cornell University
thesis_titleCross Spectral Distribution Theory for Mixed Spectra and Estimation of Prediction Filter Coefficients
doctoral_advisorEmanuel Parzen
doctoral_students{{plainlist
known_forgeneralized cross validation, smoothing splines
websitehttp://www.stat.wisc.edu/~wahba/
::

| name = Grace Wahba | image = Grace Wahba 1986.jpg | image_size = | caption = Wahba in 1986 | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = American | fields = Mathematics, statistics, machine learning | workplaces = University of Wisconsin–Madison | alma_mater = Stanford University University of Maryland, College Park Cornell University | thesis_title = Cross Spectral Distribution Theory for Mixed Spectra and Estimation of Prediction Filter Coefficients | doctoral_advisor = Emanuel Parzen | doctoral_students = {{plainlist|1=

Grace Goldsmith Wahba (born August 3, 1934) is an American statistician and retired I. J. Schoenberg-Hilldale Professor of Statistics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is a pioneer in methods for smoothing noisy data. Best known for the development of generalized cross-validation and "Wahba's problem", she has developed methods with applications in demographic studies, machine learning, DNA microarrays, risk modeling, medical imaging, and climate prediction.

Biography

Wahba had an interest in science from an early age, when she was in junior high she was given a chemistry set. At this time she was also interested in becoming an engineer.

Wahba studied at Cornell University for her undergraduate degree; in 1952, Cornell and Brown University were the only Ivy League universities that admitted women. When she was there women were severely restricted in their privileges, for example she was required to live in a dorm and had a curfew. She received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1956 and a master's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1962. She worked in industry for several years before receiving her doctorate from Stanford University in 1966 and settling in Madison in 1967.

She is the author of Spline Models for Observational Data. She retired in August 2018 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her life and career are discussed in interviews in 2007,{{cite web|title=Interview with Grace Wahba| url=https://ohms.library.wisc.edu/viewer.php?cachefile=Wahba.G.856.xml| last1=Sandra Pfahler (2007)| website=University of Wisconsin-Madison Oral History Program| access-date=24 October 2025}} 2018,{{cite web|title=Past Colloquia 2018| url=https://statistics.uconn.edu/pfizer-colloquium/| website=Pfizer Distinguished Statistician Colloquium 2018| access-date=24 October 2025}} and 2020. url=https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ss/1591171233| last1=Douglas Nychka, Ping Ma, and Douglas Bates| title=A Conversation with Grace Wahba| journal=Statistical Science| language=en| volume=35| issue=2| date=2020| pages=308–320| doi=10.1214/19-STS734| doi-access=free}}

Honors and awards

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Grace_Wahba_2010.jpg" caption="Wahba in 2010" alt=""] ::

Wahba was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2000. She is also a fellow of several academic societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Statistical Association, and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

Over the years she has received a selection of notable awards in the statistics community:

She received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Chicago in 2007 and The Ohio State University in 2022.

The Institute of Mathematical Statistics announced the IMS Grace Wahba Award and Lecture in 2021.

References

References

  1. "Breaking ground with Grace".
  2. (1978-12-01). "Smoothing noisy data with spline functions". Numerische Mathematik.
  3. Wahba, G.. (1990-01-01). "Spline Models for Observational Data". Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
  4. "Grace Goldsmith Wahba {{!}} Department of Statistics".
  5. "Grace Wahba".
  6. "National Academy of Sciences".
  7. "Grace Wahba: Honors".
  8. Va, Alexandria. (April 14, 2025). "Grace Wahba Honored with International Prize for Work on Smoothing Splines". International Prize in Statistics.
  9. "Institute of Mathematical Statistics".
  10. (27 May 2021). "ims-grace-wahba-award-and-lecture".

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