The RSS council has recommended Professor Sir John Aston as its choice for the next RSS president. The next president will assume office following the conclusion of Dr Andrew Garrett’s term at the end of 2024.
John is the Harding professor of statistics in public life at the University of Cambridge. An applied statistician, John has previously worked at the US Census Bureau, Academia Sinica (Taiwan) and University of Warwick. John is also currently a non-executive director of the UK Statistics Authority. From 2017 to 2020, John was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office. He was knighted in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to statistics and public policymaking.
John joined the RSS in 2008. He served on the Research Section Committee 2011-14, including as secretary from 2013 to 2014. He also was a member of the Academic Affairs Advisory Group while he was the chair of the Committee of Professors of Statistics from 2016 to 2018. He is currently part of the RSS strategy group.
In accordance with the Society’s Charter and Bylaws, Council invites RSS fellows to nominate an alternative, eligible and willing fellow to stand for the election as president.
The person nominated should give written approval to their nominator, agreeing to run in the election and, if successful, to undertake the role from early 2025 until 31 December 2026. Six fellows must put forward any nomination for this position. Nominations should be sent to Jo Fishwell, governance manager, by 24 August 2023. Any alternative candidates nominated by this time will be entered into the election.
For more information on the nomination process and on what happens next, please read how the RSS chooses its president.