User:Betnér/sandbox/Leich

Friedrich Leisch
Born	(1968-07-31)July 31, 1968 Vienna, Austria
Died	April 24, 2024(2024-04-24) (aged 55)
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	Vienna University of Technology
Known for	Development of R, Sweave

Friedrich "Fritz" Leisch (31 July 1968 – 24 April 2024) was an Austrian statistician known for his pioneering contributions to the R programming language and the field of statistical computing. He was a key figure in the development of the R project and co-founder of the CRAN.

Early life and education

Born in Vienna, Austria, Friedrich Leisch completed his education in Technical Mathematics at the Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien). He received his doctorate in 1999, supervised by Kurt Hornik, and achieved his habilitation in statistics in 2005.

Career

Leisch's academic career began at TU Wien, moving to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 2006 as a Professor of Statistics. He returned to Vienna in 2011 to serve as a full professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), where he led the Institute of Applied Statistics and Computing.

Contributions

Leisch was instrumental in the early stages of the R project, joining the R Core Development Team and later serving as the first Secretary General of the R Foundation for Statistical Computing. He developed the Sweave system, integrating R with LaTeX to promote reproducible research, and organized critical conferences such as the first useR! conference in 2004.

Death

Leisch passed away on 24 April 2024. His death was mourned across the statistical community and at BOKU University, which published a tribute expressing their loss.

External links

• Profile at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
• Former homepage at the University of Munich
• The R Project for Statistical Computing
• Publications by Friedrich Leisch on Google Scholar