The Department of Statistics at the University of Washington was established as an independent department within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington on July 13, 1979, with Professor Michael Perlman as the first department chair. The origins of the department date back to the 1940s, and started with the arrival of Z. W. (Bill) Birnbaum in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Washington in 1939, on a suggestion from Harold Hotelling. Z. W. Birnbaum initiated at the University of Washington one of the first comprehensive undergraduate statistics programs in the United States. In 1948, he founded the Laboratory of Mathematical Statistics and the Laboratory of Statistical Research, strengthening the graduate program through funding from the Office of Naval Research.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, key figures like Douglas Chapman, Ronald Pyke, and others joined the Statistics Group within the Mathematics Department, expanding course offerings and research areas. Despite efforts to form a separate department in the late 1960s, economic downturns delayed this goal. The Department of Statistics was finally established by the Board of Regents on July 13, 1979, with initial faculty members including Ron Pyke, Galen Shorack, Michael Perlman (department chair), R. Douglas Martin, Fritz Scholz (affiliate), and Piet Groeneboom (visiting). Early hires included Peter Guttorp, June Morita, Paul Sampson, Andreas Buja, Werner Stuetzle, Elizabeth Thomson, Adrian Raftery and Jon Wellner. The department quickly developed its academic programs, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, and established close collaborations with the Biostatistics Department and Boeing's Applied Statistics Group. In the 1980s and 1990s, the department grew rapidly, adding faculty members with diverse research interests and establishing interdisciplinary programs. Notable initiatives included the National Research Center for Statistics and the Environment (1996), the Statistical Genetics program (1999), the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (1999).

The department has made significant contributions to various fields of statistics, including spatial statistics, time series, stochastic modeling, robust methods, graphical models, statistical genetics, statistical demography, statistical epidemiology, mathematical statistics, semiparametric inference, Bayesian statistics, computational and graphical statistics, and machine learning. Throughout its history, the department’s research has constantly bridged the gap between theory and practice, and thrived on their fruitful interactions. Interdisciplinary research has been at the heart of the department. Faculty members have received numerous awards and honors from learned societies in statistics, including ASA, ISBA, IMS, and ISI. Notable faculty awards include elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, the UK Royal Society, a Nobel Peace Prize awardee (United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the inaugural Rouseeuw Prize for Statistics, and the COPSS Presidents' Award. The department is particularly proud of its alumni, many of which have gone on to become leaders in and outside the field. While the list is too long to be comprehensive, some notable examples include Robert Gentleman, Don Percival, Keith Knight, Andrew Bruce, Deborah Donnell, Charlie Geyer, Michael Newton, Jim Hughes, Heike Bickeboller, Mathias Drton and Hongzhe Li.

Today, the Department of Statistics at the University of Washington continues to be a leader in statistical research and education, maintaining strong interdisciplinary collaborations and adapting to new challenges in data science and applied statistics. For more information on the history of the department, please see:
- The University of Washington Department of Statistics in Strength in Numbers: The Rising of Academic Statistics Departments in the U.S.
- Selected faculty honors
- Department Chairs gallery
- Books and monographs authored by our faculty
- A conversation with Z. William Birnbaum, by Albert W. Marshall
- A Conversation with Dorothy Gilford, by Edward J. Wegman and Wendy L. Martinez
- A Conversation with Jon Wellner, by Moulinath Banerjee and Richard J. Samworth
- Interview with Adrian Raftery, by Leontine Alkema and Thomas Brendan Murphy