Howard Medal

The Howard Medal was established in memory of the prison reformer John Howard (1726-90). It is awarded every three years to a fellow of the Society for outstanding contributions to the development or application of social statistics.

2024 recipient: Fiona Steele
Fiona has made outstanding groundbreaking contributions to the field of social statistics, in particular the methodology and development of longitudinal, panel studies, the use and extension of event history models, multilevel and multistate models as well competing risk and survival models within the longitudinal framework.

 

2021 recipient: Brian Francis
Brian Francis has a distinguished record of impactful statistics research working at the interface of statistics and social science, particularly criminology. The quality and importance of his work can be seen by its impact on Home Office policy for retention of criminal records and DNA profiles; its use by the National Probation Agency to estimate recidivism rates; its influence on how the ONS report crime figures; and being used in an extensive campaign to reduce domestic violence during the football world cup. 

 

The Howard Medal will next be awarded in 2026*.

*If in any year a suitable candidate is not nominated, the award may be made the following year.

The Guy Medal in Silver, the Bradford Hill Medal and the Howard Medal are intended for achievements of similar standards, subject to the different descriptions and requirements of the awards. The Honours Committee has the freedom to consider nominees for one of these medals for either of the other two if they satisfy the necessary specific criteria.