This year, the RSS is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Born on 12 May 1820, Florence Nightingale was the first female member of the RSS, having joined the Society (then the London Statistical Society) in 1858, just two years after her return from the Crimean War. She remained a member until her death over 50 years later.
While Nightingale is best known worldwide for revolutionising nursing and healthcare through her campaigning for health reform, her far-reaching recommendations were based on impressive statistical work and popularised through pioneering data visualisation.
The RSS will be celebrating Nightingale’s work and profound influence with a number of different events and activities, including:
- Wednesday 18 March: Florence Nightingale Lecture and panel session with RSS president, Professor Deborah Ashby, 'Florence Nightingale and the politicians’ pigeon holes: using data for the good of society', University of Oxford Department of Statistics
- Nightingale’s nomination form to the Society (pictured) will be on display at the Florence Nightingale Museum as part of its ‘Nightingale in 200 Objects, People & Places’ exhibition, from 8 March
- Monday 23 March: RSS History Section event with world-renowned Nightingale expert, Lynn McDonald, 'Florence Nightingale and her team: Getting the statistics right, getting them to work for good'.
- A special Nightingale themed issue edition of Significance magazine in April
- Tuesday 12 May – RSS Statistical Excellence Awards Ceremony, including the presentation of the new Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Healthcare Data Analytics
- A local school outreach event with a Florence Nightingale performer
- RSS local groups and sections will be holding various events linking to Nightingale’s work
- Nightingale-themed sessions at the RSS annual conference in September
We hope that many RSS fellows can join us at these events! Follow #Nightingale2020 for updates