2009 Society Medals & Prizes

Guy medal in silver
Sylvia Richardson for her influential work in Bayesian statistics, especially her paper On Bayesian analysis of mixtures with an unknown number of components, jointly authored with Peter J. Green, and read to the Society in 1997. Her contributions to Bayesian methodology are typified by her principled and thorough engagement with structured datasets arising in the biomedical sciences, including her three recent papers in Series A and C as well as her many other high quality publications. In addition she has made many other important service contributions to the discipline, and to the Royal Statistical Society.

Guy medal in bronze
Chris Holmes for his work in developing innovative statistical methods of analysis for many application driven problems and for advocating the use of statistical advances in fields of application. These include two papers in JRSS series B: Holmes & Mallick (2001) and Holmes & Adams (2002), and, more recently, innovative Bayesian model-based hierarchical clustering methods for gene-expression data which have been applied to cell lines of the Anopholes mosquito a major vector of malaria. He has also conducted groundbreaking work on methodology for inhomogenous random fields; developed new methods for modelling geological thermal histories and introduced Bayesian mixture models into geochronology.

Bradford Hill medal
Over the last two decades few of the more important techniques and issues in pharmaceutical statistics have managed to hide from the light shed by Stephen Senn's insight. The combination of his wide-ranging statistical knowledge and his deep understanding of the clinical areas where he applies this knowledge have led to him challenging conventional wisdom and changing the practice of his colleagues in numerous areas of drug development and trial methodology. While his many papers and three acclaimed books contain the definitive version of Stephen's work, his forceful and witty exposition at countless conferences have been equally influential. For all these contributions to the development and exposition of medical statistics Stephen Senn is awarded the Bradford Hill Medal.

West medal
Chris Skinner for his fundamental contributions to social statistics methodology, particularly in the analysis of complex surveys, nonresponse and statistical disclosure control, and for his achievements in the UK and internationally in the development and provision of training in social science research methods.

Research Prize
Andrew Golightly for his work at the interface between computationally intensive statistical methods and computational biology. Before completing his PhD in 2006, Andrew had already published one paper in an internationally leading journal for statistical methods relating to the biological sciences. Since then he has continued to publish original methodological work on inference for non-linear multivariate diffusion processes, and applied work in stochastic models for biochemical networks.

Honorary Fellowships
Sir Kenneth Calman for his contributions to enhancing public health through better use of official statistics and cancer registers in addressing health inequalities and for his encouraging wider user involvement to influence work on official health statistics for the Statistics Commission.

Clive Fairweather CBE for his contributions to the health of offenders in Scotland, and of combatants in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has provided firm leadership, an instinctive understanding and anticipation of what was needed in the face of strong opposition and hostile climates. He has also encouraged close collaboration with statistical colleagues in carrying out research and collecting relevant and appropriate management information to bring about change.

Sir Michael Rawlins for his contributions to public health through his leadership of both the Committee on the Safety of Medicines and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. In these roles he promoted the use of quantitative methods, championed the roles of the statistician and the health economist and encouraged the use of innovative techniques. His influence at NICE has extended to creating a transparent and consultative environment where open meetings are held to discuss decisions that impact the public, and where appraisal committees include lay members.

Paul Wiles for his work as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Home Office, and in his role as Chief Government Social Researcher and Head of the Government Social Research Service. During his time at the Home Office he has striven to enhance the methodological standards of evaluations, has opened up lines of statistical communication into the Home Office and has successfully made the case for statisticians within the Home Office to work directly with him and his chief statistician.