List of presidents of the Royal Statistical Society

The president of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), elected biennially by the Fellows of the Society. The time-period between elections has varied in the past.

The president oversees the running of the Society and chairs its council meetings. He or she also gives a presidential address at some point in their tenure, which is published in the longest running journal of the society, Series A, setting out personal views on the future of discipline and the role of the society. In recent years, almost all presidents have been nominated following many years' service to the Society, although some have been nominated to mark their eminence in society generally, such as Harold Wilson.

Nominations for president are received by the society's Nominating Committee. ^[1] The committee recommends at least one fellow to Council who, at a meeting, agree a preferred candidate or candidates. If only one preferred candidate is selected, the Fellowship are given four weeks to offer an alternate candidate.

There has only been one contested election in the Society's history, in 1977. Many fellows objected to the nomination by the Council of Campbell Adamson because he was not a statistician, was said to have made derogatory comments about statisticians, and principally because in the previous year he had been defeated in an election to the Council of the Society, and fellows felt that he was being foisted upon the Society by the current 'establishment' in an essentially undemocratic fashion.^[2] Henry Wynn was nominated by several fellows (including Adrian Smith, himself later president, and Philip Dawid) and won the election.

Despite women being elected fellows from 1858, only five have been president of the society. Three of these have been in the 21st century although the proportion remains biased to men with nine male presidents since 2001.

In 2010, Bernard Silverman stepped down very early in his presidential term. This was due to being appointed as chief scientific advisor to the Home Office which presented a conflict of interest as the society sometimes issues expert statements on statistical matters in public life. In 2022 then president-elect David Firth withdrew on health grounds, prompting a further election in which the immediate past-president, Andrew Garrett, was elected.^[3] The current president is Prof Sir John Aston.^[4]

Honorary presidents

Three Princes of Wales have been an honorary president:

1872 - 1901 Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII)
1902 - 1910 George, Prince of Wales (later George V)
1921 - 1936 Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII)

List of presidents

19th century

1834–1836 The Marquess of Lansdowne
1836–1838 Sir Charles Lemon, Bt
1838–1840 The Earl FitzWilliam
1840–1842 Viscount Sandon
1842–1843 The Marquess of Lansdowne
1843–1845 Lord Ashley
1845–1847 The Lord Monteagle of Brandon
1847–1849 The Earl FitzWilliam
1849–1851 The Earl of Harrowby
1851–1853 The Lord Overstone
1853–1855 The Earl FitzWilliam
1855–1857 The Earl of Harrowby
1857–1859 Lord Stanley
1859–1861 Lord John Russell
1861–1863 Sir John Pakington, Bt
1863–1865 William Henry Sykes
1865–1867 The Lord Houghton
1867–1869 William Ewart Gladstone
1869–1871 William Newmarch
1871–1873 William Farr
1873–1875 William Guy
1875–1877 James Heywood
1877–1879 George Shaw-Lefevre
1879–1880 Thomas Brassey
1880–1882 James Caird
1882–1884 Robert Giffen
1884–1886 Rawson W. Rawson
1886–1888 George Goschen
1888–1890 Thomas Graham Balfour
1890–1892 Frederic J. Mouat
1892–1894 Charles Booth
1894–1896 The Lord Farrer
1896–1897 John Biddulph Martin
1897 Alfred Edmund Bateman
1897–1899 Leonard Courtney
1899–1900 Henry Fowler
1900–1902 The Lord Avebury

20th century

1902–1904 Patrick George Craigie
1904–1905 Sir Francis Powell, Bt
1905–1906 The Earl of Onslow
1906–1907 Richard Martin
1907–1909 Sir Charles Dilke, Bt
1909–1910 Jervoise Athelstane Baines
1910–1912 Lord George Hamilton
1912–1914 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth
1914–1915 The Lord Welby
1915–1916 Lord George Hamilton
1916–1918 Bernard Mallet, Registrar General
1918–1920 Herbert Samuel
1920–1922 R. Henry Rew
1922–1924 The Lord Emmott
1924–1926 Udny Yule
1926–1928 The Viscount D'Abernon
1928–1930 A. William Flux
1930–1932 Sir Josiah Stamp
1932–1934 The Lord Meston
1934–1936 Major Greenwood
1936–1938 The Lord Kennet
1938–1940 Arthur Lyon Bowley
1940–1941 Henry William Macrosty
1941 Hector Leak
1941–1943 William Beveridge
1943–1945 Ernest Charles Snow
1945–1947 The Lord Woolton
1947–1949 David Heron
1949–1950 Sir Geoffrey Heyworth
1950–1952 Austin Bradford Hill
1952–1954 Ronald Fisher
1954–1955 The Lord Piercy
1955–1957 Egon Pearson
1957–1959 Harry Campion
1959–1960 Hugh Beaver
1960–1962 Maurice Kendall
1962–1964 Joseph Oscar Irwin
1964–1965 Sir Paul Chambers
1965–1966 L. H. C. Tippett
1966–1967 M. S. Bartlett
1967–1968 Frank Yates
1968–1969 Arthur Cockfield
1969–1970 R. G. D. Allen
1970–1971 Bernard Benjamin
1971–1972 George Alfred Barnard
1972–1973 Harold Wilson
1973–1974 D. J. Finney
1974–1975 Henry Daniels
1975–1977 Stella Cunliffe
1977–1978 Henry Wynn
1978–1980 Sir Claus Moser
1980–1982 David Cox
1982–1984 Peter Armitage
1984–1985 Walter Bodmer
1985–1986 John Nelder
1986–1987 James Durbin
1987–1989 John Kingman
1989–1991 Peter G. Moore
1991–1993 T. M. F. Smith
1993–1995 D. J. Bartholomew
1995–1997 Adrian Smith
1997–1999 Robert Nicholas Curnow
1999–2001 Denise Lievesley

21st century

2001–2003 Peter Green
2003–2005 Andrew P. Grieve
2005–2007 Tim Holt
2008–2009 David Hand
2010–2010 Bernard Silverman (resigned Feb 2010; replaced pro tem by David Hand)
2011–2012 Valerie Isham^[5]
2013–2014 John Pullinger^[6]
2014–2016 Peter Diggle^[7]
2017–2018 David Spiegelhalter^[8]
2019–2020 Deborah Ashby
2021–2022 Sylvia Richardson
2023–2024 Andrew Garrett
2025-date John Aston

References

^ "RSS Bylaws and Regulations" (PDF).
^ "A pivotal episode for the Radical Statistics Group and the Royal Statistical Society – the presidential election of 1977" (PDF). Radical Statistics (108): 21-37. 2013.
^ "Andrew Garrett confirmed as President Elect".
^ "Royal Statistical Society announces new president". Research Professional News. 1 September 2023.
^ "Society's new president". RSS News. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
^ "New president takes over". RSS News. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
^ "Peter Diggle to begin his RSS presidency early as John Pullinger steps down". Statslife. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
^ "David Spiegelhalter's Personal Home Page". Retrieved 2017-04-18.

External links

[1] "RSS Bylaws and Regulations" (PDF).

[2] "A pivotal episode for the Radical Statistics Group and the Royal Statistical Society – the presidential election of 1977" (PDF). Radical Statistics (108): 21-37. 2013.

[3] "Andrew Garrett confirmed as President Elect".

[4] "Royal Statistical Society announces new president". Research Professional News. 1 September 2023.

[5] "Society's new president". RSS News. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2011-01-26.

[6] "New president takes over". RSS News. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2011-01-26.

[7] "Peter Diggle to begin his RSS presidency early as John Pullinger steps down". Statslife. Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 2014-07-11.

[8] "David Spiegelhalter's Personal Home Page". Retrieved 2017-04-18.

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