Latent Variable Modeling – History and Future: Mini-symposium to celebrate Karl Jöreskog's 90th birthday

We are pleased to announce a mini symposium to mark the 90th birthday of Karl Jöreskog, to celebrate his lifelong achievements.

Karl Jöreskog is renowned for his contributions to structural equation modeling (SEM) and latent variable analysis, which have had a great impact on research in psychology, sociology, and econometrics.

Beyond SEM, his research spans multivariate analysis, item response theory, and statistical computing. Together with Dag Sörbom, he developed the LISREL computer program, which became a cornerstone in the field of SEM. Jöreskog’s contributions continue to shape empirical research and methodological advancements across multiple disciplines.

His influence has been recognized with numerous honors, e.g. including election as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (1974), being Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, serving as President of the Psychometric Society (1977–78), receiving the Rudbeck Medal from Uppsala University (2004), and the Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology from the American Psychological Association (2007). He is currently a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Moreover, Jöreskog is honorary doctor at University of Padua, Norwegian School of Economics, and Friedrich-Schiller-Universität.

As a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Jöreskog’s contributions continue to shape empirical research and methodological advancements across multiple disciplines. Thus, his birthday is an opportunity for us to celebrate not only Jöreskog himself, but also his historical contributions. And to also look ahead to see what could be the future of latent variable modeling.