Sir David Cox wins Royal Society Copley Medal

Professor Sir David Cox FRS HonFBA, has won the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, “for his seminal contributions to the theory and application of statistics”. The Copley Medal is the Royal Society’s oldest award

Professor Sir David Cox FRS HonFBA, has won the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, “for his seminal contributions to the theory and application of statistics”.  The Copley Medal is the Royal Society’s oldest award.  It is given annually for outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science.  It was first awarded in 1731, and previous recipients have included Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Michael Faraday, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and Ronald Fisher.

Sir David held the Chair of Statistics at Imperial College from 1966 to 1988, leaving to become Master of Nuffield College, Oxford.  He has served as President of the Royal Statistical Society and of the International Statistical Institute, and has received numerous honorary degrees and awards.

It is particularly pleasing that this award should go to Sir David in 2010, firstly because this is the 350th anniversary year of the Royal Society, and such an award properly reflects the breadth of the discipline of statistics, and secondly because 2010 is the inaugural year of the United Nation’s World Statistics Day (20th October).