Calyampudi R. Rao, the Eberly Family Chair in Statistics, and director of the Center for Multivariate Analysis, has received the Padma Vibhushan.

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian honor bestowed by the country of India for outstanding contributions to science, engineering and statistics.

Indian officials announced the country's civilian awards January 25, on the eve of the country's Republic Day festivities.

Rao has been a member of the Penn State faculty since 1988. He is internationally acknowledged as one of the pioneers who laid the foundation for modern statistics, as well as one of the world's top five statisticians with multifaceted distinctions as a mathematician, researcher, scientist and teacher.

Rao's pioneering contributions to mathematical and statistical theory and applications have become part of graduate and postgraduate courses in statistics, econometrics, electrical engineering and many other disciplines at most universities throughout the world.