May 16, 1924–2024: Celebrating the Centenary of Shewhart’s Quality Control Chart

To appear in Frontiers in Statistical Quality Control (Vol. 14)


In 1919, Walter Andrew Shewhart started reading the work of Karl Pearson and wanted to study statistics seriously. Henry Louis Rietz (the top man in statistics in America at that time) advised Walter not to take up statistics as a profession as it was not likely to offer good prospects. Thankfully, Shewhart brushed Rietz’s advice aside, decided to continue his studies on his own, and proposed the quality control chart on May 16, 1924.
Since then, quality control charts have been used not only in industry but also in a myriad of other areas, such as biosurveillance, finance, and healthcare.
In this paper, we provide a biographical sketch of Walter Andrew Shewhart and look at the circumstances that led to the birth of Shewhart’s quality control chart. In addition, we briefly discuss the immediate repercussions of the proposal of the control chart. We also present highlights of the tributes published in 1967, showing how much Shewhart was appreciated and respected by his peers. The last section of this paper consists of our final thoughts on Shewhart’s masterpiece, the quality control chart.