Publication Number: 2025-02
Publication Date: Updated March 2025
Walter Andrew Shewhart is regarded as the founder of Statistical Quality
Control (SQC), an approach to production inspection based on the application of
statistical theory. He developed SQC in the 1920s while working at Bell Telephone
Laboratories. During this period, he was tasked with training Bell System engineers in
SQC. Concurrently, he addressed broader audiences through numerous publications and
lectures worldwide. In this context, he notably played an active role in the early
activities of the Econometric Society, where he promoted SQC and, more broadly, the
use of statistical methods among its members. This article examines how Shewhart
envisioned the relationships between economists and engineers during the interwar
period, his role as a promoter of statistical methods among both groups, and the reasons
behind the Econometric Society’s interest in him—a figure positioned at the intersection
of mathematical statistics and production organization within one of the largest
American firms of the era.
JEL codes. B23, C44, L15, M11
Keywords. Walter Andrew Shewhart, statistical quality control, economists, engineers,
Econometric Society.
