Prof. Benjamin Epstein was born in 1918 in the United States. In 1968, after establishing a career as an advisor and researcher in statistics, he immigrated to Israel due to Zionist reasons. Ben was an expert in system reliability and had made important pioneering contributions in developing life-length tests. He was accepted as a professor in the Industrial Engineering and Management Faculty at the Technion in the same year he immigrated.

Ben was the first and the senior statistician at the Technion. He founded the statistics field, recruited excellent new faculty members to the statistics and probability field, and created a group that was a source of pride for the faculty. Ben was the driving force in establishing a graduate program in Quality Assurance and Reliability in the Technion and he taught there until he retired in 1986. While teaching at the Technion, Ben guided many graduate students. Many of his students are today leaders in quality and reliability in academia and in Israeli industry.

Ben tried his very best to develop the field of Statistics outside of the Technion as well as in it. He was one of the forces which established The Israel Statistical Association and was its president in 1979–1981. In addition, Ben was a true patriot and attentive to the country’s needs. He contributed from his experience to the issues of reliability in RAFAEL and to the defense industry in Israel.

Ben was an energetic man, who always helped everyone and was loved by all. Ben passed away in December 2004. He left a wife, Malka, a daughter, two sons and grandchildren.

May his soul rest in peace.

Prof. Epstein’s Obituary, IMS Bulletin, Vol 34, ISsue 8, October 2005