Waloddi Weibull

Weibull was born 18 June 1887 in the town of Vittskövle in Sweden. (The family originated from the village "Weibøl/Vedbøl" in Haderslev, Denmark.) He joined the Swedish Coast Guard in 1905 as a midshipman. He moved up the ranks with promotion to sublieutenant in 1907, Captain in 1916 and Major in 1940. While in the coast guard he took courses at the Royal Institute of Technology. In 1924 he graduated and became a full professor. The same technique is still used today in offshore oil exploration. == Research contributions ==

In 1939 he published his paper on the Weibull distribution in probability theory and statistics. 27 of these papers were reports to the US Air Force at Wilbur Wright Field on Weibull analysis. In 1951 he presented his paper on the Weibull distribution to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), using seven case studies. == Legacy ==

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded Weibull their gold medal in 1972. The Great Gold Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences was personally presented to him by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1978. == Personal life ==

Weibull came from a family that had strong ties to Scania. He was a cousin of the historian brothers Lauritz, Carl Gustaf and Curt Weibull. Weibull died on 12 October 1979 in Annecy, France. == References ==