Ellis R.

Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management

Application Instructions

Selection Criteria

The scholarship recipient must be a student who is planning to enroll or is currently enrolled in
a masters degree or higher level US or Canadian program that has a concentration in applied
statistics and/or quality management. This includes the theory and application of statistical
inference, statistical decision-making, experimental design, analysis and interpretation of data,
statistical process control, quality control, quality assurance, quality improvement, quality
management and related fields. The emphasis is on applications as opposed to theory.

Students enrolled in online programs are not eligible.

Scholarship awards are based on (a) demonstrated ability, (b) academic achievement, including
honors, (c) career objectives, (d) faculty recommendations, (e) student involvement in campus
activities, including teaching and tutoring, and (f) industrial exposure including part-time work
and internships.

The Ott Scholarship Governing Board awards up to two scholarships annually to students
pursing either a masters degree as their next academic goal or a doctorate degree. Relatives of
the Governing Board and of the ASQ Statistics Division Council members are ineligible as are
previous winners of the award.

Material* to be sent no later than April 1

Typed application form no handwritten forms, please.
Resume
An essay of no longer than one page, type written, no smaller than 10-point type,
stating qualifications, career goals, reasons for seeking the scholarship. Comments
should be consistent with the scholarship award criteria, above.
Two letters of recommendation from professors in the current or intended field of study.
* Send via email only to lynne.hare@comcast.net.
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
Application Instructions (continued)

Suggestions for professors who write letters of recommendation

The Ott Scholarship Governing Board relies heavily on your recommendations while judging
applications. It is important that the Board be persuaded by your comments that the student is
truly qualified. Our past winners are those who have had the strongest letters of
recommendation from their faculty mentors.

As you will notice from the Criteria for Selection section above, the Board is seeking
students who are well rounded and who demonstrate great potential for leadership in our
discipline. It would be greatly appreciated if you would focus your comments on these aspects
of the students development. The Board would also like to see your comments regarding
academic achievements, especially those regarding innovation and strong insight on the part of
the student. Naturally, any additional comments you wish to offer will be appreciated.

Appended to this application form are three papers describing Professor Otts philosophy of
statistics and statistical education. Letters of recommendation receiving the highest ratings
from the Ott Scholarship Governing Board will emphasize key principles outlined in these
papers.
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
Application Form

Name of Applicant: _______________________________________________________

Address:________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Home phone: ________________________ Office phone: ______________________

Email: __________________________

Last 4 Digits of SSN: _________________ Student Number: ___________________

Degree Dates Honors

College or University Awarded Attended GPA* Received
(Current)

* on a 4.0 equivalent scale

Name and address of college and university where scholarship will be applied, if offered.
(Include the address of the financial aid office and the name of the financial aid officer
responsible for your account.)
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
Application Form (continued)

Supporting letters included in this application are written by:

Title and Name: __________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

Phone: _____________________________ Email: ______________________________

Title and Name: __________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

Phone: _____________________________ Email: ______________________________

Check here if the next degree for which you are applying is a masters degree.

Check here if the next degree for which you are applying is a doctorate degree.

By April 1, email this form complete with your resume, and your essay to
lynnehare@verizon.net. Students should follow up with their faculty members to assure that
letters of recommendation are emailed to the same address by the April 1 deadline.

Transcripts should be sent via the regular mail to:

Dr. Lynne B. Hare

55 Buckskin Path
Plymouth, MA 02360

(774) 413-5268

Notices will be issued on or about August 1.

 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management

Students please note:

The attached pages are not to be submitted with your application.

They are for your information regarding the nature of the scholarship
and the statistical education philosophy of Professor Ellis R. Ott. We
highly recommend that you review them carefully to assure that your
essay and accompanying information are consistent with the Ott
philosophy.

In addition, please make certain that the mentors you choose to write
letters of recommendation on your behalf have access to this material.
It will help them understand points needing emphasis.
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management

Ellis Ott: Prince of Quality

by J. Stuart Hunter

The word Quality in the title of this short paper recognizes Ellis Ott (1906 - 1981) as a quality educator and as a
quality technology leader. The Quality profession is doubly in his debt. It is good occasionally to acknowledge his
contributions and to remember a remarkable personality.

First some history. In 1946, sensitive to the educational needs of returning WWII veterans, Rutgers University
formed a University College. One objective was to provide undergraduate courses that could be taken late in the
day or early evening to accommodate returning veteran-working students. Bachelor degrees might also be
obtained outside of Rutgers formal four year programs. The financial grants for education provided by Harry
Trumans GI Bill of Rights promised a flood of student veterans. Ellis Ott, (PhD Mathematics, University of
Illinois) and previously a professor at the University of Buffalo became the chairman of the new University
College Mathematics Department.

At the time of his appointment Ellis already possessed considerable industrial experience and before accepting the
post at Rutgers he announced his intention to inaugurate courses on industrial quality control, a declaration his
reluctant peers called Otts Folly. But clearly, following WWII the demands were huge for formal education in
the arts of industrial quality control.. Further New Jerseys industries were a microcosm of the nations. As a direct
consequence Ellis courses at Rutgers on statistics and quality control attracted scores of students and a masters
degree in Applied and Mathematical Statistics soon became available. In a less formal environment Ellis also
inaugurated (1949) the annual Rutgers All Day Conference on Quality Control in Industry. Hundreds (literally) of
workers from industry plus students attended these Saturday affairs, one of which (1952) was almost blown out by
a hurricane.

In 1952 the Statistics Center within the Graduate School at Rutgers University was formed and Ellis named
Professor of Applied and Mathematical Statistics. Mason Wescott, then editor of ASQCs journal /Industrial
Quality Control/ joined the faculty as Professor. In 1958 Harold Dodge, retired from Bell Laboratories and
internationally known for his work on acceptance sampling plans, also joined the faculty. A PhD program was
approved in 1959 and the first PhD degrees granted in 1963. In 1965 the Center established a consulting intern
program to expose students to the practice as well as the theory of statistics By the time of Ellis retirement over
340 MS and 35 PhD degrees had been earned each a degree in applied and mathematical statistics. Ellis Otts
vision and enthusiasm brought both the theory and application of quality control fully into realms of academia.
Walter Shewhart has often been called the Father of Quality Control. Ellis Ott is his Prince and professor.

To his students Plot the data was Ellis Otts most insistent refrain.
Formal data analyses are subject to the deleterious influences of outliers, changing variabilities, time dependencies
and, to put it simply, strange data. Signals of these phenomena rest in data plots and Ellis insisted his students look
before they leaped. His ANOM (Analysis of Means, 1958) procedure is an example of his love of graphics. The
ANOM reduces the complexities of the ANOVA for two level factorials experimental designs into familiar and
easily interpreted Shewhart chart displays. The acronym KISS is sometimes translated to mean Keep It Simple
Statistician. In Ellis case, it stood for Keep It Sophisticatedly Simple.

Ellis Ott died in 1981 and in 1982 the Ellis R. Ott Foundation was established employing funds raised by a series
of special conferences and personal contributions. Every year the Ott Foundation, through the offices of the ASQ
Statistics Division, offers the Ellis R. Ott Scholarship for Applied Statistics and Quality Management. The $7,500
scholarships are for students currently enrolled in either a MS of PhD program. Interested students should contact
lynnehare@verizon.net

On a personal note, I first met Ellis while a graduate student at N. C. State. I spent my summers working for Frank
Grubbs at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and in 1951 Dr. Grubbs sent me to the Rutgers All Day Conference
with a special message for Ellis. It was a huge meeting and I eventually was able to find Professor Ott. He
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management

immediately swept me up into his professional family, introduced me to the movers and shakers of the Quality
world and challenged me to come to Rutgers. He simply bowled me over. His cordiality, enthusiasm for the
profession and his empathy for me as a student are well remembered. .

I can also lay claim to introducing Horace P. Andrews, a particularly popular member of the Rutgers faculty, to
Ellis. I first met Horace Andrews in 1948 when we were both masters candidate students at N.C .State. I was
taking a course on experimental design from Miss Gertrude Cox, founder of the Institute of Statistics. Horace was
Miss Coxs homework grader. (I recall he marked papers in green ink.) He later went on to the get his PhD at Penn
State and then took employment in Chicago.

Sometime after getting my PhD, Ellis asked if Id be interested in accompanying him to India to help teach design
of experiments courses as part of a United Nations program. I declined, but mentioned that Horace Andrews
would be a wonderful candidate. Horace agreed and later became a member of Ellis faculty in 1964.

One final recollection. The Statistical Techniques Research Group at Princeton University had just hired a new
secretary, a Swedish lady. One morning while I was visiting with George Box in his office she came in quite
disturbed. In a heavy Swedish accent she blurted, I dont understand, this man wants to speak to you and says
hes hellish hot. Yes, in so many ways, Ellis Ott was a high energy particle.

I thank a small sample of Ellis students: Ron Snee, Lynne Hare, Truman Koehler and Tom Boardman and
Professor Joe Naus, Statistics Department Rutgers University, for their help in preparing this paper.

References:

The January 1983 issue of /Journal of Quality Technology /*15, *1/ /is devoted to Ellis Otts memory.
Neubauer, Dean V. (1970) Pl-Ott the Data, /Quality Digest /
Snee, R. D. (1990) Statistics at Rutgers, The early years /Newsletter/, Northern NJ Chapter, ASA.
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management
 Ellis R. Ott Scholarship
For Applied Statistics and Quality Management