David John Finney (3 January 1917 – 12 November 2018), was a British
statistician
and
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of Statistics at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. He was Director of the
Agricultural Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture.
History
The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor ...
's Unit of Statistics from 1954 to 1984 and a former
President of the Royal Statistical Society
The president of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), elected biennially by the Fellows of the Society. (The time-period between elections has varied in the past, and in fact elections only rarely occur ...
and of the
Biometric Society. He was a pioneer in the development of systematic monitoring of drugs for detection of
adverse reactions. He
turned 100 in January 2017
and died on 12 November 2018 at the age of 101 following a short illness.
Childhood and education
Finney was born in
Latchford, Cheshire
Latchford is a suburb and ward (politics), electoral ward of Borough of Warrington, Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is around one mile south-east of Warrington town centre and has a total resident population of 7,856.
Latchford is a predomin ...
,
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
. In his interview with MacNeill, Finney describes his background: "My family were never wealthy but never in want". His paternal grandfather was a schoolmaster, and his father was an accountant in the steel industry. David was the eldest child; he had no sisters. In the Preface to his "Probit Analysis" book, Finney thanks his father Robt. G. S. Finney for assistance.
Finney was educated at the coeducational
Lymm Grammar School
Lymm is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England, which incorporates the hamlets of Booths Hill, Broomedge, Church Green, Deansgreen, Heatley, Heatley Heath, Little Heatley, Oughtrington, Reddish, Rushgreen and ...
and
Manchester Grammar School
The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...
, where he won a Cambridge scholarship. He read mathematics and statistics at
Clare College
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
,
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
from 1934 to 1938. He was awarded a postgraduate scholarship for statistical work in agriculture under
Ronald Fisher
Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...
at the
Galton Laboratory
The Galton Laboratory was a laboratory for research into eugenics and then into human genetics based at University College London in London, England. It was originally established in 1904, and became part of UCL's biology department in 1996.
The a ...
,
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, where he worked on
statistical estimation
Estimation theory is a branch of statistics that deals with estimating the values of parameters based on measured empirical data that has a random component. The parameters describe an underlying physical setting in such a way that their value ...
for
human genetics
Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population gene ...
.
Career
He became assistant to
Frank Yates at
Rothamsted Experimental Station
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Har ...
in 1939, where there was great emphasis on increasing productivity of agriculture and he was involved in the design of field experiments and the interpretation of their results.
In 1945, he joined the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
as the first holder of the post of Lecturer in the Design and Analysis of Scientific Experiment. He married in 1950 and with his wife and 9-month-old daughter, left Oxford in 1952 for New Delhi where, for a year, he acted as a consultant to the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organisation on the development of the
Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute
The Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute is an institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) with the mandate for developing new techniques for the design of agricultural experiments as well as to analyze data ...
in New Delhi. In 1951 he was elected as a
Fellow of the American Statistical Association
Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...
. He became a Fellow of
The Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
in 1955.
After returning from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, he moved to the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
where he became Reader in Statistics and also established a Unit of Statistics funded by the Agricultural Research Council, which was to provide a service for Scotland modelled on that provided by Rothamsted for England. The Agricultural Research Council moved the Unit of Statistics to the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in 1966 and Finney, who moved to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
with it, became the first Professor of Statistics at the university and well as being the Director of the Unit of Statistics. He served as president of the
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good.
...
in 1973–4. He retired from his position at Edinburgh in 1984.
During the 1960s he became involved in the field of drug safety, providing important advice both to the fledgling UK system of medicines safety and to efforts by
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
to create an international system of
pharmacovigilance
Term Given By Tushar Sharma (UPES Batch 2025)
Pharmacovigilance (PV, or PhV), also known as drug safety, is the pharmaceutical science relating to the "collection, detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention" of adverse effects with pharma ...
. In 2002 he returned to contact with the
Uppsala Monitoring Centre
Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC), located in Uppsala, Sweden, is the field name for the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring. UMC works by collecting, assessing and communicating information from member c ...
, which published an anthology of his writings about statistical methods and drug safety. He was also involved with
Bill Inman in the setting-up of the
Drug Safety Research Unit. Finney received an Honorary Doctorate from
Heriot-Watt University in 1981. In 1981, Finney became a founding member of the
World Cultural Council
The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1981 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...
.
Works
*''Probit Analysis'', Cambridge University Press, 1947
*''Statistical methods in biological assay'', Hafner, 1952; Griffin, 1971,
*''Experimental design and its statistical basis'', University of Chicago Press, 1955
*''Statistics for mathematicians: an introduction'', Oliver & Boyd, 1968
References
External links
*
*
*
*
* Audio recording of interview for
James Lind Library archive on 18 November 200
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finney, David J.
1917 births
2018 deaths
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
British centenarians
Men centenarians
British statisticians
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of the American Statistical Association
Founding members of the World Cultural Council
People educated at Manchester Grammar School
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society