Page 16 - Probability and Statistical Inference

Acknowledgments

A long time ago, in my transition from Salkia A. S. High School to
Presidency College, Calcutta, followed by the Indian Statistical Institute,
Calcutta, I had the good fortune of learning from many great teachers. I
take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all my teachers,
especially to Mr. Gobinda Bandhu Chowdhury, Professors Debabrata Basu,
Biren Bose, Malay Ghosh, Sujit K. Mitra, and to Professor Anis C.
Mukhopadhyay, who is my elder brother.
In good times and not so good times, I have been lucky to be able to
count on my mentors, Professors P. K. Sen, Malay Ghosh, Bimal K. Sinha
and Bikas K. Sinha, for support and guidance. From the bottom of my
heart, I thank them for their kindness and friendship.
During the past twenty-five years, I have taught this material at a number
of places, including Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, as well as
the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, the University of Missouri-Columbia,
the Oklahoma State University-Stillwater and the University of Connecticut-
Storrs. Any time a student asked me a question, I learned something. When
a student did not ask questions whereas he/she perhaps should have, I have
wondered why no question arose. From such soul searching, I learned
important things, too. I have no doubt that the students have made me a
better teacher. I thank all my students, both inside and outside of classrooms.
I am indebted tremendously to Dr. William T. Duggan. He encouraged
me in writing this book since its inception and he diligently read several
versions and caught many inconsistencies and errors. It is my delight to
thank Bill for all his suggestions, patience, and valuable time.
My son, Shankha, has most kindly gone through the whole manuscript
to “test” its flow and readability, and he did so during perhaps the busiest
time of his life, just prior to his entering college. He suggested many stylistic
changes and these have been very valuable. Shankha, thank you.
I thank Professor Tumulesh K. S. Solanky, for going through an earlier
draft and for encouraging me throughout this project. I am also indebted to
Professor Makoto Aoshima and I thank him for the valuable suggestions he
gave me.
Without the support of the students, colleagues and staff of the
Department of Statistics at the University of Connecticut-Storrs, this project
could not have been completed. I remain grateful for this support, particularly
to Professor Dipak K. Dey, the Head of the Department.

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