Assembly Resolution No. 330

BY: M. of A. McMahon

HONORING Calyampudi Radhakrishna (C.R.) Rao upon
the occasion of his special designation as recipient
of the 2023 International Prize in Statistics

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that those who
enhance the quality of life in their community and have shown a long and
sustained commitment to the maintenance of high standards in their
profession, certainly have earned the recognition and applause of all
the citizens of this great Empire State; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor
C.R. Rao upon the occasion of his special designation as recipient of
the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, awarded biennially at the
International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress in Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada; and

WHEREAS, The International Prize in Statistics is modeled after the
Nobel Prize and recognizes a major achievement by an individual or team
in the statistics field, particularly an achievement of powerful and
original ideas that have led to practical applications and breakthroughs
in other disciplines; and

WHEREAS, One of the most accomplished mathematicians and
statisticians of our age, C.R. Rao revolutionized statistical thinking
and dramatically influenced the human understanding of science across a
wide spectrum of disciplines; and

WHEREAS, In 1920, C.R. Rao was born to a Telugu family in Hadagali,
Karnataka; his schooling was completed in Gudur, Nuzvid, Nandigama, and
Viskhapatam, all in Andhra Pradesh; and

WHEREAS, C.R. Rao received an MSc in mathematics from Andhra
University and an MA in statistics from Calcutta University in 1943; he
also obtained a PhD degree at King's College at Cambridge University,
further adding a DSc degree from Cambridge in 1965; and

WHEREAS, Cambridge University awarded C.R. Rao with the prestigious
Sc.D. degree in 1965, and he has received 31 Honorary Doctoral degrees
from universities in 18 countries; additionally the Pennsylvania State
University has established a C.R. and Bhargavi Rao Prize in Statistics;
and

WHEREAS, At the beginning of his career, C.R. Rao worked at the
Indian Statistical Institute and the Anthropological Museum in
Cambridge; later he held several important positions, as the Director of
the Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru Professor and
National Professor in India, University Professor at the University of
Pittsburgh, and Eberly Professor, Chair of Statistics, and Director of
the Center for Multivariate Analysis at Pennsylvania State University;
and

WHEREAS, As a testament to his genius, C.R. Rao has received many
honors; he was awarded the title of Padma Bhushan by the Indian
Government in 1968 and in 2001, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan; and

WHEREAS, C.R. Rao demonstrated three fundamental results that paved
the way for the modern field of statistics and provided statistical
tools heavily used in science today in his 1945 paper published in the
Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society; combined, these results
help scientists more efficiently extract information from data; and

WHEREAS, The first result in C.R. Rao's findings is known as the
Cramer-Rao lower bound, which provides a means for knowing when a method
for estimating a quantity is good; the second is named the Rao-Blackwell
Theorem, which provides a means for transforming an estimate into a more
optimal estimate; lastly, the third result provides insights that
pioneered a new flourishing interdisciplinary field, information
geometry; and

WHEREAS, Information geometry has recently aided the understanding
of Higgs boson measurements at the Large Hadron Collider, the world's
largest and most powerful particle accelerator; it also has found
applications in recent research on radars and antennas, artificial
intelligence, data science, signal processing, shape classification, and
image segregation; and

WHEREAS, C.R. Rao's monumental work has earned such a prestigious
award, as his theories and tools continue to exert a profound influence
on science; and

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body that when
individuals of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our
attention, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens
of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor C.R. Rao upon the occasion of his special designation as recipient
of the 2023 International Prize in Statistics; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to C.R. Rao.