Charles Roy Henderson
C. R. Henderson
• Born April 1, 1911, in Coin, Iowa, in Page
County – same county of birth as Jay Lush
• Page County Farm Bureau Picnic (12 and under
under,
14 and under, 16 and under changed to 10-12,
13-14,, 15-16))
• Dean H.H. Kildee visited in 1929 and convinced
Henderson to come to Iowa State College
College.
C. R. Henderson
• ISC track 4 x 220 indoor world record
• 1933 ISC Field House indoor 440 record of 51.7
(stood for 30 years)
• Outdoor 440 record of 48.6 when world record
was 47
47.4
4
• MS in nutrition from ISC
• 1942 U
U.S.
S Army Sanitary Corps
Corps. Nutrition
research for troops.
C. R. Henderson
• Returned to ISU after the war for Ph.D. with Jay
Lush in animal breeding.
• Professor at Cornell until 1976
• Renowned for “Henderson’s Mixed Model
E
Equations”
ti
” and
d work
k on BLUP
BLUP.
• Elected member of the National Academy of
Sciences
Henderson’s
Henderson
s Ph.D. Students Included
• Shayle Searle (who taught Henderson
matrix algebra)
• David Harville (professor emeritus,
D
Department
t
t off Statistics,
St ti ti
ISU,
ISU linear
li
models expert)
A problem that reportedly sparked
Henderson’s
Henderson
s interest in BLUP
No. 23
Mood1950 p
p. 164
Suppose intelligence quotients for students in a
particular age group are normally distributed
about
b
a mean off 100 with
i h standard
d dd
deviation
i i 15
15.
The I.Q., say x1, of a particular student is to be
estimated by a test on which he scores 130
130. It is
further given that test scores are normally
distributed about the true I.Q. as a mean with
standard
t d dd
deviation
i ti 5
5. Wh
Whatt iis th
the maximumi
likelihood estimate of the student’s I.Q.? (The
answer
a
s e is
s not
ot 130).
30)
Henderson’s
Henderson
s Advice to Young Scientists
1. Studyy methods of yyour p
predecessors.
2. Work hard.
3. Do not fear to tryy new ideas.
4. Discuss your ideas with others freely.
5. Be quick to admit errors. Progress
comes by correcting mistakes.
6. Always be optimistic. Nature is benign.
7. Enjoy your scientific work. It can be a
great joy.
Sources
• L
L. D
D. Van Vleck (1998)
(1998). Charles Roy
Henderson, 1911-1989: a brief biography.
Journal of Animal Science
Science. 76,
76 2959
2959-2961
2961.
• L
L. D
D. Van Vleck (1991)
(1991). C
C. R
R. Henderson:
Farm Boy, Athlete, and Scientist. Journal
of Dairy Science.
Science 74,
74 4082
4082-4096
4096.