An oral history with David Blackwell : oral history transcript / 2003

192 Pages·2003·5.6 MB·English

by  Blackwell, David, 1919- ive

UniversityofCalifornia Berkeley

Regional Oral History Office UniversityofCalifornia
The BancroftLibrary Berkeley, California
DavidBlackwell
AN ORAL HISTORYWITH DAVID BLACKWELL
Interviews conductedby
NadineWilmot
in 2002 and 2003
Copyright 2003 byThe Regents oftheUniversity ofCalifornia
Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leadingparticipants in
or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development ofNorthern California, the
West, andthenation. OralHistory is amethodofcollectinghistoricalinformationthrough
tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically
significantevents andawell-informedinterviewer, withthe goalofpreserving substantive
additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for
continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is
indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft
Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for
scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the
final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the
interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply
involved, and irreplaceable.
*********************************
Alluses ofthis manuscriptare coveredbya legal agreementbetweenThe
Regents ofthe UniversityofCalifornia and David Blackwell, datedApril
11, 2002. The manuscript is thereby made available for research
purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to
publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of
California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for
publication without the written permission of the Director of The
BancroftLibrary oftheUniversity ofCalifornia, Berkeley.
Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to
the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000,
University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should include
identification ofthe specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use ofthe
passages, and identificationoftheuser.
Itis recommendedthatthis oral historybe cited as follows:
David Blackwell, "An Oral History with David Blackwell,"
conducted by Nadine Wilmot in 2002 and 2003, Regional Oral
History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley, 2003.
CopyNo. J-
David Blackwell, 1962

TABLE OF CONTENTS DAVID BLACKWELL
IntroductionbyAlbertH. Bowker i
Interview History iii
Interview 1: April 11, 2002 1
[Minidisc 1] 1
Earlyyears and family in Centralia, Illinois 1
Collegeyears atUniversity ofIllinois, Champaign-Urbana 8
Interview 2: April 18, 2002 17
[Minidisc 2] 17
More on earlyyears in Centralia andundergraduate education 17
Graduate school with dissertation advisorJosephDoob 22
Obtaining a Rosenwald fellowship andgoing to the Institute forAdvanced Study 25
What is themeaning ofdeniedaccess? 33
Looking forwork 34
Teachingat Southern Universityand ClarkAtlantaUniversity 36
Interview 3: April 25, 2002 41
[Minidisc 3] 41
More onthe Institute forAdvanced Study 41
Howard 43
University
Teaching andmathematics departmentfaculty 46
Marriage and family 53
Interview4: May2, 2002 57
[Minidisc 4] 57
HowardUniversity, curriculm and environment 57
Meeting Abe Girshick 62
Community ofstatisticians 66
Rao-Blackwell theorem 67
Bayesian approach 69
Summers atthe Rand Corporation 72
More on Bayesian approach 75
Reviewing papers forfavorites 77
Interview 5: May9, 2002 81
[Minidisc 5] 81
The mathematical mind 81
Anapproach to mathematical activity 81
Dynamic programming and information theory 84
Lester Dubins 86
Working on information theory with Leo Breiman 88
Reviewingpapers forfavorites 90
Government fundedresearch 95
Appliedmathversus pure math 97
Using computers in his work 97
Hugo Steinhaus 99
Interview 6: May 16, 2002 101
[Minidisc6] 101
Playinggames atRand 101
Stanford statistical community inthe early 1950s 102
Comingto Berkeley 106
FriendshipwithJerzyNewman 108
Living inBerkeley 109
Berkeley s departmentofstatistics 110
Summer Statistics Program forDisadvantaged Students 114
Involvement inthe Academic Senate 117
Afro-American Studies Committee Chairfortwo weeks 119
Free SpeechMovementprotests on campus 120
Militarywork 121
Familyand social change 123
Living in Londonas directorofthe Study AboardProgram 123
Rouse Ball Lecture in London 124
Interview 7: May 23, 2002 127
[Minidisc?] 127
Comingto Berkeley, educationofchildren in Berkeley 127
Brownv. BoardofEducation 128
OtherAfrican American facultyat Berkeley in 1954 130
Perception ofteachingas aprofessionintheAfrican American community 132
Professional organizations forAfricanAmericanmathematicians 132
Changingrace relations and identity 133
Friendship with Al Bowker 134
Photo and interactions withWilliam Shockley 135
Awards andhonors 137
VisitingEurope, ancestral math sites, Bayes andDoblin 138
Intuitionandmath 140
Graduate students 142
Music andmath 144
More onCentralia andfamily 145
Northtown and Southtown 147
Grandchildren 149
Civil Rights Movement 150
Interview 8: September 11, 2002 153
[Minidisc 8] 153
UC
Affirmative action at Berkeley 153
Howardversus UC Berkeley, ateaching institution versus a research institution 154
The roots ofbeing anti-war 155
How having afamily and children impactedprofessional choices 156
Interview 9: November 13, 2003, and Interview 10: January 29, 2003 inserted intext
[Minidisc 9]