Researching William Hunter

Hunter was born in Aberdeen, the son of James Hunter, a granite merchant, of Aberdeen. He was educated at Aberdeen grammar school and university. He entered the Middle Temple, and was called to the English bar in 1867, but then was occupied mainly with teaching. In 1869 he was appointed professor of Roman law at University College, London, and in 1878 professor of jurisprudence, resigning that chair in 1882.

Hunter's name became well known during this period as the author of a standard work on Roman law, Roman Law in the Order of a Code, together with a smaller introductory volume for students, Introduction to Roman Law.

After 1882 Hunter took up politics and was elected to parliament for Aberdeen North as a Liberal at the 1885 general election. In the House of Commons he was a prominent supporter of Charles Bradlaugh; he was the first to advocate old age pensions, and in 1890 carried a proposal to free elementary education in Scotland. In 1895 his health broke down; he resigned his seat in Parliament on 24 April 1896 by taking the Chiltern Hundreds.

Hunter was born March 27, 1937 in Buffalo, New York. In 1959 he received a bachelor's degree from Princeton and in 1960 a master's from the University of Illinois in chemical engineering. He then became the first doctoral student at the new department of statistics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison founded by George Box.

He contributed to the book Statistics for Experimenters by Box, William Hunter, and Stuart Hunter (no relation to William Hunter). He founded the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality and the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement in Madison, Wisconsin. The Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality gives an annual award called the William G. Hunter Award.

According to Box, "[Hunter] wanted to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate people, and he and his family spent extended periods of time helping third world countries." Hunter taught in Singapore for a year and half and Nigeria for a year, both in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, before China allowed in many foreign experts, he spent a summer lecturing there. He helped build Singapore's quality movement.

Hunter was a leader in the effort to adopt the Deming system of Profound Knowledge and related ideas in the public sector. He contributed to Deming's Out of the Crisis, relating how the city of Madison applied Deming's ideas to a public sector organization.

He was a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Society for Quality Control. From 1963 to 1983 he was an associate editor of Technometrics. He was the chairman of the Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences of the American Statistical Association and also served on that organization's board of directors. He served on boards for the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Hunter died of cancer on December 29, 1986 at the age of 49.

He was born in Hemmingford, Quebec in 1858, the son of William Hunter and Janet Mackay, and was educated on Prince Edward Island. In 1884, Hunter came to British Columbia, where he was employed in railway construction for two years. He then worked at bridge building in Washington state until 1889, when he moved to Nelson. Hunter was involved in mining for a year. He next built the International Hotel in Nelson, selling the hotel after operating it for five months. He next operated as a general merchant in New Denver. In 1891, he moved to the future site of the town of Silverton and built a steamship to operate on Slocan Lake. Two years later, he opened a store in Silverton. Hunter later opened a number of branch stores in the region. He was also involved in mining and served as a justice of the peace for Silverton. In 1901, he married Maggie Parsons.

Hunter ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial assembly in 1903 before being elected in 1907. He was reelected two more times, then was defeated by Charles Franklin Nelson when he ran for reelection in 1916, losing by one vote. In 1920, Hunter defeated Nelson to win the Slocan seat.

He died in Silverton at the age of 81.