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Prof. David Firth confirmed as President Elect of the Royal Statistical Society

Professor David Firth has been confirmed as the next Royal Statistical Society (RSS) President after Professor Sylvia Richardson’s term of office comes to a close at the end of 2022.

Professor Firth is a British statistician who works on general theory and methods for research in broad areas of science, social science and public life. He is an Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Warwick, where he has worked since 2003. Previously he was Professor of Social Statistics at Oxford, and before that he worked at the University of Southampton and the University of Texas at Austin. In 2008 he was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.Caption: Professor David Firth, Department of Statistics, University of Warwick  Credit: University of Warwick

In 2012, Professor Firth was awarded the Guy Medal in Silver by the RSS, for outstanding published research. David’s influential work on exit-polling and election-night forecasting at UK general elections was cited, as well as his extensive contributions to statistical theory, methodology and computing.

David was chosen from a list of nominees put forward by RSS fellows to the Society's President Nominating Committee. Former RSS presidents include Harold Wilson, Stella Cunliffe and William Beveridge.

Professor David Firth, commenting on the announcement, said: “I feel deeply honoured to have been chosen by the Royal Statistical Society to be its next President, and my aim will be to build upon the excellent work already done by Sylvia Richardson and her predecessors. Principled data-analytic methods have never been so important. The Society plays a global leadership role in promoting best practice and innovation, and I look forward to working with RSS members and staff to sustain and develop this leadership in the next few years.”

Professor Sylvia Richardson, President of the Royal Statistical Society, commented: “David Firth is a superb choice for the next President of the Royal Statistical Society. His contributions to social statistics have been outstanding and he has played an active role in the RSS over the years. I know that his leadership will drive forward the Society’s aim of putting data at the heart of understanding and decision-making.”

Notes to editors

High-res image available at:

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/david_firth.jpg
Caption: Professor David Firth, Department of Statistics, University of Warwick
Credit: University of Warwick

· The Royal Statistical Society (RSS), founded in 1834, is one of the world’s most distinguished and renowned statistical societies. It is a learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics, data and evidence for the public good. Today the RSS has around 10,000 members around the world. www.rss.org.uk @RoyalStatSoc

· More information on Prof. David Firth’s work, which includes topics ranging from animal behaviour to football leagues, can be found via his homepage: warwick.ac.uk/dfirth.

· The full list of former RSS presidents can be found here: https://rss.org.uk/about/people/past-presidents/

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk