| Intro | Scottish statistician |
| A.K.A. | Robert William Maclagan Wedderburn |
| Was |
Mathematician Statistician |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type | Mathematics |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1 January 1947, Edinburgh |
| Death |
1 January 1975 (aged 28 years) |
Robert William Maclagan Wedderburn (1947–1975) was a Scottish statistician who worked at the Rothamsted Experimental Station. He was co-developer, with John Nelder, of the generalized linear model methodology, and then expanded this subject to develop the idea of quasi-likelihood.
Wedderburn was born in Edinburgh, where he attended Fettes College, then studied for a degree and a diploma in statistics at the University of Cambridge. He died aged 28 of anaphylactic shock from an insect bite while on a canal holiday.
“His colleagues remember him as someone of engaging diffidence, who would nonetheless hold his own in argument when he was sure he was right (as he usually was).” — John Nelder