Simon French has been named as the Ramsey Medalist for 2017 by the Decision Analysis Society within INFORMS. The award is the highest award of the Decision Analysis Society and recognizes distinguished contributions to the field of decision analysis. Much of Simon's work has centered on the use of expert judgment in risk and decision analysis, particularly the aggregation of disparate opinions. After the Chernobyl Accident, he became deeply involved in the fields of risk communication and emergency management. This led to a string of papers and work focused on nuclear and food safety. More recently, he has become interested in social decision making and democracy in the internet age.

The results of the 2014 REF (Research Excellence Framework) exercise have now been published, and Warwick Statistics and the Warwick Mathematics Institute together have been ranked 3rd in the UK with more than 90% of our research activity assessed as either internationally excellent or world leading.

Our research environment at Warwick is rated by REF 2014 as the very best in the UK for mathematical sciences (achieving the maximum possible score of 100% at 4*).

The University of Warwick as a whole is now ranked (among universities) 7th in the UK for our research, with 14 academic departments ranked in the UK top ten for their disciplines.

Further background on REF 2014 is provided in HEFCE's press release, with additional analysis provided in the Times Higher Education dissemination of results.

Professor Simon French, the recently appointed Director of the Risk Initiative and Statistical Consultancy Unit, has been awarded an honorary fellowship of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management. The award took place at the IIRSM’s Luncheon at the House of Lords on September 27. In making the award, Geoff Lloyd, the deputy chairman of IIRSM’s Board, cited Professor French’s work in helping assess, analyse and communicate risk in a range of contexts from nuclear energy to health and food safety. Professor French expressed his delight on receiving the fellowship and thanked the many colleagues with whom he had worked over the years. He singled out the support of his family for special mention and in particular thanked his daughters for teaching him more about risk than he really wished to know!