Robin L. Plackett (3 September 1920 – 23 June 2009) was a statistician best known for his contributions to the

history of statistics Statistics, in the modern sense of the word, began evolving in the 18th century in response to the novel needs of industrializing Westphalian sovereignty, sovereign states. In early times, the meaning was restricted to information about states, pa ...

and to

experimental design The design of experiments (DOE), also known as experiment design or experimental design, is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. ...

, most notably the Plackett–Burman designs.

Early life and education

Plackett attended

Liverpool Collegiate School Liverpool Collegiate School was an all-boys grammar school, later a comprehensive school, in the Everton, Liverpool, Everton area of Liverpool. Foundations The Collegiate is a striking, Grade II listed building, with a facade of pink Woolton s ...

from 1932 to 1939. He then attended

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 Unive ...

, where he graduated in 1942.

Early career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Plackett was requested to work for the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

, in SR17 which was a statistical branch. He began to develop a methodology for applying statistical knowledge, and would pass it down to new recruits.

First scientific paper

In 1946, he would publish his first paper which was written jointly with Peter Burman in an journal called ''

Biometrika ''Biometrika'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press for the Biometrika Trust. The editor-in-chief is Paul Fearnhead (Lancaster University). The principal focus of this journal is theoretical statistics. It was ...

''. The paper, titled "The design of optimum multifactorial experiments", introduced Plackett–Burman experimental designs.

Academic career

In 1947, he became a lecturer at Liverpool University. He would also publish research on the history of statistics. Then, in 1962, he took a short post for the Professor of Statistics at

King's College, Durham Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a memb ...

before the college merged with

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in 1963. He was the first professor of statistics at Newcastle University and held the post until his retirement in 1983. In 1987 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. ...

awarded him the

Guy Medal The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Silver and Bronze medals are awarded annually. The Gold Medal was awarded every three years between 1987 and 2011, but is awarded bienni ...

in Gold, having awarded him both the bronze and silver medals earlier in his career. He authored several books on statistics, including '' Principles of Regression Analysis '' (1960), ''The Analysis of Categorical Data'' (1974) and '' An Introduction to the Interpretation of Quantal Responses in Biology'' (1979, with P. S. Hewlett).

Personal life

Plackett had a keen interest in climbing. He was married to his wife, Carol, for 65 years. He also had three children: Adam, Jane and Martin.

Early life and education

Early career

First scientific paper

Academic career

Personal life

References

Further reading