Eugene Lukacs

Eugene Lukacs
Eugene Lukacs (1906–1987)
Born	14 August 1906 Szombathely, Austria-Hungary
Died	21 December 1987 (1987-12-22) (aged 81) Washington, D.C.
Fields	Mathematician, Probabilist, Statistician
Institutions	Catholic University of America Bowling Green State University
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Doctoral advisor	Walter Meyer
Known for	Work in Probability Theory, Characteristic Functions, Characterization of Distributions

Eugene Lukacs (Hungarian: Lukács Jenő, 14 August 1906 – 21 December 1987) was a Hungarian statistician born in Szombathely, notable for his work in characterization of distributions, stability theory, and being the author of Characteristic Functions, a classic textbook in the field.

From six weeks after birth Lukacs lived in Vienna, Austria. There he received primary and secondary education and studied mathematics at University of Vienna. His professors included Hans Hahn, Eduard Helly, Walter Meyer, Leopold Vietoris and Wilhelm Wirtinger. In 1930 he earned his doctorate in geometry under the supervision of Walter Meyer, and a degree in actuarial science in 1931. Eugene met his future wife Elizabeth Weisz (Lisl) in 1927 at the University of Vienna, and they married in 1935. He taught secondary mathematics for two years and later accepted a position with an insurance company, where Eduard Helly and Z. W. Birnbaum were colleagues. After Germany annexed Austria in 1938, he decided to emigrate to the United States, arriving in 1939.

In 1953 Eugene joined the Office of Naval Research (ONR) USA, and became the director of Statistics. While at ONR he also taught at American University in Washington, D.C.

Lukacs joined the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. in 1955. There he organized the Statistical Laboratory in 1959 and became its first and only director. Researchers at the Statistical Laboratory included Edward Batschlet, Tatsuo Kawata, Radha Laha, M. Masuyama and Vijay Rohatgi, and many distinguished visitors.

On his retirement from Catholic University in 1972, he moved with his colleagues Laha and Rohatgi to Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he remained until 1976.