A Conversation with Byron J.T. Morgan

McCrea, Rachel (2026) A Conversation with Byron J.T. Morgan. Statistical Science, 41 (2). pp. 400-410. ISSN 0883-4237

Abstract

Byron Morgan is an Emeritus Professor of Statistics, a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and represents a true pillar of the applied statistics community, contributing appreciable understanding to a number of fields, most recently statistical ecology. Byron has offered sustained service to the community, chairing the last Research Excellence Framework statistics panel in 2001 (after which statistics was merged with mathematics) and has reviewed and advised several external agencies at home and abroad. He has been editor of the Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, co-editor of Biometrics and of Applied Statistics and Associate Editor and Guest Editor for several other journals. He also served in multiple learned societies, most notably the International Biometric Society, (of which he was the president in 1996/1997 and Elected Honorary Life Member in 2014) and in the Royal Statistical Society, where he was a member of council and a vice-president during 1997–2001. His contributions to the organisation of scientific conferences are many and include his serving as Chair of Scientific Program Committee of the XVIIth International Biometric Conference in Hamilton, Ontario, 1994, and as Chair of the local organising committee for the International Statistical Ecology Conference, held in Canterbury in 2010. As well as leading many initiatives and grants, he has mentored and inspired generations of researchers, many of whom have gone on to research careers in both academia and NGOs. Anyone who has met Byron will not be surprised that it is a great pleasure to have an excuse to talk to him about his career and for him to relay some of his many entertaining stories.