The Department of Mathematical Statistics was founded within the Faculty of Agriculture at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in 1952. Following the establishment of the Higher School of Agriculture by the Council of Ministers in 1955, the department became part of the new university formed from the UMCS's faculties of Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, and Zootechnics. The Higher School of Agriculture now operates as the University of Life Sciences.
The department has undergone significant changes in terms of its name, status, structure, and staff over the years. In 1970, it was moved to the newly established Faculty of Agricultural Technology and renamed the Department of Applied Mathematics. Then, in 1973, the department was reorganised into the following four divisions: Mathematical Statistics, Experimental Theory and Biometrics, Mathematics, and Numerical Methods. In 1979, the department was renamed the Institute of Applied Mathematics, with no concomitant changes to its existing departments and laboratories. In 1982, the Numerical Methods Laboratory was elevated to departmental status, and in 1984 it was transformed into the IT Centre, which in 1999 became an extra-departmental unit. The Computer Science Teaching Laboratory was established in 1993 and was renamed the Computer Science Laboratory the following year. The Institute operated in this form until the end of August 2000. On 1 September 2000, it was transformed into the Department of Applied Mathematics. Then, on 1 April 2008, the department was renamed the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, to reflect the expanded scope of its activities. The department now comprises the Mathematics Unit, the Computer Science Unit, and the Statistics and Data Analysis Laboratory.
The founder and long-standing head of the department was prof. dr Wiktor Oktaba, an exceptional statistician and organiser. He led the department until 1990, setting its research and development direction and shaping its scientific profile for many years to come. For the next ten years, the department was headed by prof. dr hab. Tadeusz Przybysz. Professor dr hab. Mirosława Wesołowska-Janczarek held the position from 2000 to 2011, after which dr hab. Izabela Kuna-Broniowska managed the department until 2020. The current head of the department is dr hab. Agnieszka Kubik-Komar.
The department primarily recruited mathematics graduates, though it also hired those with degrees in physics and computer science. In its early years of operation, the department had just three members of staff. Consequently, the number of staff members increased steadily over time, driven by the University's dynamic growth and systematic expansion of its educational programmes. This was reflected in the emergence of new fields of study and areas of specialism, as well as a substantial increase in both the number of students and the range of subjects, particularly in computer science. These changes were driven by ongoing digitalisation and evolving market demands. The highest number of employees was recorded in 1982–83, when 30 out of 53 members of staff were IT services specialists. The Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science currently employs 18 people, including one technical staff member.
2025-10-24 jrm