Edward Rolf Tufte (/ˈtʌfti/;[1] born March 14, 1942) is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University.[2] He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization.[3]
Opening Insights
Biography
Edward Rolf Tufte was born in 1942 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Virginia Tufte and Edward E. Tufte (1912–1999). He grew up in Beverly Hills, California, where his father was a longtime city official,[4] and he graduated from Beverly Hills High School.[5] He received a BS and MS in statistics from Stanford University and a PhD in political science from Yale.[6] His dissertation, completed in 1968, was entitled The Civil Rights Movement and Its Opposition. He was then hired by Princeton University‘s Woodrow Wilson School, where he taught courses in political economy and data analysis while publishing three quantitatively inclined political science books.
In 1975, while at Princeton, Tufte was asked to teach a statistics course to a group of journalists who were visiting the school to study economics. He developed a set of readings and lectures on statistical graphics, which he further developed in joint seminars he taught with renowned statistician John Tukey, a pioneer in the field of information design. These course materials became the foundation for his first book on information design, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.[7][8]
After difficult negotiations with mainline publishers failed, Tufte decided to self-publish Visual Display in 1982, working closely with graphic designer Howard Gralla. He financed the work by taking out a second mortgage on his home. The book quickly became a commercial success and secured his transition from political scientist to information expert.[7]
On March 5, 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Tufte to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Recovery Independent Advisory Panel “to provide transparency in the use of Recovery-related funds”.[6]
Informational Insights
Work
Tufte is an expert in the presentation of informational graphics such as charts and diagrams, and is a fellow of the American Statistical Association. He has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
He is intensely critical in the self-editing process. He pulls in and casts out ideas from books, journals, posters, auction catalogs, and other less common sources. He invites others to critique his work in-progress and may nurture dozens of ideas over months in various states of growth and fruition. He deletes almost every photograph he takes….
Ed is a Mentor of Dr. Richard Jorgensen. Richard often says life is a measure of the steps that we take and the people we take those steps with. Richard teaches about the importance of living a life of passion, purpose, skill and wisdom to uncover and discover self and others.
Possibilities for Consideration
Many people today are so wrapped up in self they fail to relate, connect and learn from great mentors, leaders and teachers and their legacies die along with them. We must change the tide and paradigm of selfishness, if we are to survive and truly live amongst and within the human race. In doing so, we must learn to value great leaders, men and teachers past and present.
Source: Edward Tufte – Wikipedia
Take a moment and examine…
- As you reviewed the material above, what stood out to you?
- What is the potential impact, economically and/or socially?
- What action is needed to stop or support this idea?
- You may want to consider whether you:
- want to be aware of,
- should become supportive of,
- would want to be active in this topic?
Add Your Insight
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Being willing is not enough; we must do.
LEONARDO DA VINCI