Myles Hollander. Photo: Florida State University / Devin Bittner

Myles Hollander, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Professor Emeritus at Florida State University, passed away peacefully in Tallahassee, FL, on January 27, 2025. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 21, 1941. As an only child, Myles spent many afternoons at Ebbets Field and counted Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Podres, and Gil Hodges as his friends. Myles graduated from Brooklyn’s storied Erasmus Hall High School. His love for the Dodgers continued after their move to Los Angeles, and he cherished their recent World Series win over the NY Yankees.

Myles obtained his B.S. in 1961 from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon) and, in 1965, his PhD in Statistics from Stanford University, where he worked with Lincoln Moses and developed new rank tests for randomized blocks. Stanford was also where he started his great love story with Glee Ross. Myles met Glee on the dance floor in June, 1962, when she agreed to a cha cha. Myles’ pursuit of Glee started immediately thereafter, and they were married in Stanford’s Memorial Church on August 17, 1963.

Their first child, Layne, was born at Stanford’s hospital on October 29, 1964. In 1965, attracted by the research in nonparametrics of Ralph Bradley, Frank Wilcoxon and Richard Savage, Myles joined the Statistics Department at Florida State University. So began Myles’ enduring love of FSU and Tallahassee. As a new professor, Myles followed the advice of senior colleagues to prove his mettle through solo publishing and research with students. Later, he collaborated with colleagues Frank Proschan and Jayaram Sethuraman and credited this for vastly expanding his scope of work. Myles was a fierce competitor in intramural sports, winning titles in basketball and, in softball, defeating a team comprised of members of FSU’s 1972 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Runner-Up.

On August 1, 1968, Myles’ second son Bart was born. Myles adored his role as father and coach to his boys. He would catch pitches in the early morning while Layne perfected his curveball and Bart his palm ball. Myles developed a love for tennis, utilizing the metal Wilson T2000 racquet popularized by Jimmy Connors. Myles wore out opponents with his tenacity, saying with a smile, “Everybody hates the dinker, but he has all the trophies.”

Myles thrived at FSU, noting “There’s nothing better than being university professor.” He loved scientific interchange and traveling, with Glee, to conferences in the US and abroad. Myles served as Chair of the Statistics Department for nine years, received the Professorial Excellence Award in 1977, was named Distinguished Research Professor in 1996, and in 1998 was named Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, the highest honor the FSU faculty bestows upon their own. Myles was a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the IMS, and an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute. He served as Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association (1985–94) and then as Editor-Elect (1993–94) and Editor (1994–96) of JASA Theory and Methods. He also served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics (1993–97; 2003–05) and Lifetime Data Analysis (1994–2007). In 2003, the ASA recognized him with the Gottfried E. Noether Senior Scholar Award for excellence in theory, methodology, and applications in nonparametric statistics. Myles published over 100 papers in areas including nonparametric statistics, reliability theory, survival analysis, biostatistics, and probability theory and directed or co-directed 19 PhD students. He co-authored textbooks including Statistics: A Biomedical Introduction with Byron Brown; Nonparametric Statistical Methods with Douglas Wolfe, and The Statistical Exorcist: Dispelling Statistics Anxiety with Frank Proschan, which was lovingly co-illustrated by Myles’ wife Glee. Myles also coined the phrase, “Statistics Means Never Having To Say You’re Certain,” his apt play on words from the bestselling 1970 novel and film Love Story.

Myles retired in 2007 after 42 years of service. In 2020, he established the annual Myles Hollander Distinguished Lectureship in appreciation of FSU, its statistics department, and the statistics profession. Myles was a loving husband to Glee (d. 2015) for 52 years. He is survived by his sons, Layne and Bart, daughter-in-law, Catherine Sanderson, and five grandchildren, Taylor, Connor, Andrew, Robert and Caroline. The FSU Department of Statistics is forever grateful for Myles’s contributions and love and enthusiasm for our discipline. A celebration of life will be held on FSU’s campus in the Fall in conjunction with the annual Myles Hollander Distinguished Lectureship.

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Written by Elizabeth H. Slate, Florida State Univ., & Edsel Peña, Univ. of South Carolina

This obituary draws from https://www.tallahassee.com/obituaries/psar1077266, with permission from Layne Q Hollander and Bart Q Hollander. Additional information about the life and contributions of Myles Hollander can be found in the Tallahassee Democrat’s obituary and in “A Conversation with Myles Hollander,” by Francisco J. Samaniego, Statistical Science, 23(3), 2008.