Joseph B. Kruskal, Jr. was born in 1928, in New York City. He completed his BS (1948) and MS (1949), both in mathematics, at the University of Chicago. He earned his PhD in mathematics at Princeton University in 1954. During the 1950s, Kruskal also worked in logistical research for the US Office of Naval Research, first at George Washington University’s Logistical Research Project (1950-1953), then at Princeton’s Analytical Research Project (1954-1956). He then taught for three years at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of Wisconsin - Ann Arbor. In 1959, he left teaching to conduct research at Bell Laboratories, in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he would work for the rest of his career. He officially retired from Bell Labs in 1993, but continued to conduct research there for several years after.
Although trained in pure mathematics, Kruskal’s work at Bell Labs encouraged him to explore statistics, computer science, and various other areas of applied mathematics. His major areas of research and publication included: combinatorics; well-partial-ordered sets (the subject of his doctoral dissertation); multidimensional scaling (MDS) and its applications to various fields, particularly linguistics; psychometrics; and sequence comparison. While at Bell Labs, he worked on TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber optic cable system. In addition to his research, Kruskal lectured frequently, communicated with other scholars about statistical methodology, and advised graduate students from around the world. He was the second president of the Classification Society of North America (1972-1973) and president of the Psychometric Society (1974-1975). He was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1971 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1982.
Kruskal’s two older brothers, William and Martin, were also well-known mathematicians. Kruskal married his wife, Rachel Solomon, in 1953, and the couple had two children, Joyce and Benjamin. He passed away in 2010.
The Joseph B. Kruskal Papers, 1926-2003, document Kruskal’s professional career as a mathematician and statistician. Materials include correspondence, notes, printed material, film, and other material.
The most extensive portion of the collection is the Research Files (1926-2003). This series is divided into topical files, files by person (including collaborators and those whose work Kruskal was studying), linguistics, and documentation of computer programs Kruskal developed at Bell Labs. Correspondence, reprints, drafts, and notes are included in this series.
The records of his Seminars and Presentations (1953-1997) include notes, transparency slides, and other materials from talks he gave at Bell Labs, conferences, and universities. The many transparency slides, or “viewgraphs,” were photocopied for preservation purposes and the originals discarded.
Kruskal’s Correspondence (1950-2001), arranged chronologically, documents his professional life, communications with other researchers in various fields, and the operations of Bell Labs. Included are both incoming and outgoing correspondence. Of particular note are several letters to and from Paul Erdős, dated 1953, 1954, and 1960.
His Education and Teaching files (1948-1958) include student materials, particularly class notes, and materials from his short teaching career, including handouts, quizzes, and tests. His class notes from the University of Chicago and Princeton University include notes from lectures by S. Bochner, N. Steenrod, and R. Fox, among others.
The Organizational files (1970-1981) document his work with professional organizations, namely the Classification Society (North America Branch), Psychometric Society, Committee of Concerned Scientists, as well as a workshop he helped run on multidimensional scaling techniques.
Finally, the collection includes four films (1968, undated), in various formats.
Forms part of the Archives of American Mathematics
Unrestricted access.
The bulk of these records are stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.
Joseph B. Kruskal Papers, 1926-2003, Archives of American Mathematics, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
This collection was processed by Elliot Williams, September 2012.