Bill Text: NY K00330 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Resolution 330

Introduced

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

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-04-24 - adopted [K00330 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00330-Introduced.html


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.