The author

CAST was written by Doug Stirling, a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Doug Stirling   New Zealand map

Doug's interests have alternated between computer science and statistics for many years. He originally attended St. Andrews University in Scotland to study computer science, but graduated with a BSc (Hons) in statistics in 1972. After a year's postgraduate diploma in applied statistics at Edinburgh University, Doug returned to St. Andrews University where he earned an MSc in computer science.

Doug's first job was as a research assistant, and later lecturer, in the Department of Computer Science and Statistics at Queen Mary College in the University of London. In 1981, he emigrated to New Zealand and has been on the academic staff at Massey University since then, teaching a wide range of statistics (and occasionally computer science) courses.

Doug has done research on various topics, in particular contingency tables, statistical algorithms and the use of software to teach statistical concepts. He was awarded a PhD in computational statistics in 1986.

In recent years, Doug's research has focussed on how computers can improve statistical education.

Earlier teaching software

After seeing his first Macintosh computer in the mid-1980s, Doug recognised the huge potential of computers with graphical user-interfaces for teaching statistical concepts. In 1987, he published StatLab, a Macintosh program that used simulations to teach several statistical concepts.

StatLab was followed in 1992 by Models'n'Data, another general-purpose program for the Macintosh that could be used to help teach a wider range of statistical concepts.

A simpler user-interface and embedded expository text make CAST much more self-contained than its predecessors.


The author may be contacted by email at d.stirling@massey.ac.nz