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Historic background | Statistics and data science

Historic background

In 1950 the university established the Department of Statistics as a sub specialty at the Faculty of Humanities. When the Faculty of Social Sciences was established in 1953, it was attached to this faculty under the title "The Department of Statistics and Demography". At the beginning, the department consisted of three teachers: Professor Robert Becky, who was chairman Professor, Helmut Meuzam, and Dr. Reuben Gabriel. Professor Arie Dvoresky of the Mathematics Department assisted teaching probability theory. In the 60's and 70 other teachers were added to the department and the department was split in 1969 to two independent departments: Department of Statistics and the Demography Department. During this period was also established the Statistical Consulting Laboratory.

In 1980 the department moved to Mount Scopus, together with the Faculty of Social Sciences. The passage was preceded by a big debate between those who support the transition and those who support disengagement from the social sciences and staying on the Edmond Safra Campus. In an attempt to maintain a presence in the natural sciences the department tought its foundation courses in parallel on Mount Scopus and on the Edmond Safra. Recognition of the scientific proximity between the different areas of mathematics and natural sciences in general, and particularly in computer science, and statistics, and the wil tol strengthen this relationship exists even now at the Department of Statistics.