Acheson J. Duncan

Acheson J. Duncan professor emeritus of Statistics at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, was an authority in the field of Quality Control and Industrial Statistics.His book was like a bible for Japanese who came to Baltimore,Md. to learn about quality from Dr.Duncan. Wiley, publisher has called this book as best seller in 50's,60's,70's and 1980s.The 5th edition was printed in 1986 by Wiley. [http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/pmc/section1/pmc11.htm]

A native of Leonia,N.J.,he attended Princeton University,where he received a bachelor's degree in 1925,a master's in 1927 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1936.He also attended the University of Chicago and Columbia University.He married Helen Foster in 1960,who died at age 91 in 1995 after his death at age 90.He had two step children, Catharine Foster Black and Joseph Foster, seven grandchildren and 5 great grand children in 1995.

Dr.Duncan spent 13 years on the faculty at Princeton University and three years in the US Army before coming to Johns Hopkins University in 1946 as an associate professor of statistics in the School of Business.Later he joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering's program in industrial engineering.He retired in 1971 as professor,but remained very active until 1992,spending a few hours at his office at JHU.Dr.Duncan [http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/janmar95/jan3095/duncan.html] wrote extensively on his research in the field,having co-authored two statistical text books.His third book,Quality Control and Industrial Statistics,first published in 1952,has been edited 5 times and printed in Indian and Japanese translations.

Robert H Roy ,dean emeritus of JHU School of Engineering,has stated that Dr.Duncan and his book/work was revered in Japan,where he frequently lectured in the years following World War 2."A good deal of the credit for the post-war recovery of Japanese economy was attributable in part to his work in statistical quality control.He was a distinguished scholar".

The American Society of Quality awarded Shewhart medal to Dr.Duncan in 1964. [http://www.asq.org/about-asq/awards/honors/shewhart.html] In 1986,an anonymous donor established the Acheson J.Duncan Distinguished Visitor Fund at Johns Hopkins University.The endowed fund supports an annual visit to JHU and lecture by a scholar in mathematical sciences.

Besides his work with the Japanese Government,Dr.Duncan served as consultant to numerous industries and governmental agencies,including the US Army Chemical Corps,Glenn L.Martin Co. and Esso Standard Oil Co.Categories:Quality Control;Scholar