Frank Wilcoxon was born to American parents on 2 September 1892 in
County Cork,
Ireland. He grew up in
Catskill, New York, but received part of his education in England. In 1917, he graduated from
Pennsylvania Military College with a
B.Sc. After the
First World War he entered graduate studies, first at
Rutgers University, where he was awarded an
M.S. in
chemistry in 1921, and then at
Cornell University, gaining a
Phd in
physical chemistry in 1924. Wilcoxon entered a research career, working at the
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research from 1925 to 1941. He then moved to the
Atlas Powder Company, where he designed and directed the Control Laboratory, before joining the
American Cyanamid Company in 1943. During this time he developed an interest in inferential statistics through the study of
Ronald Fisher's 1925 text,
Statistical Methods for Research Workers. He retired in 1957 and died on 18 November 1965. == Research ==