Annual Report of the Fisher Memorial Trust for 2015
Introduction
The Fisher Memorial Trust was set up to promote interest in the life and work of the great statistician, evolutionary biologist and geneticist, Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962) and to maintain his scientific legacy by encouraging discussion of the scientific fields in which he was active. The Trust does this by organising regular Fisher Memorial Lectures and making donations to support the attendance of career-young scientists at conferences on subjects in which RA Fisher was active.
Information about the trust can also be found on its website.
Activities
Fisher Lecture
The 34th Fisher Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Peter McCullagh FRS, of the University of Chicago, who was the visiting Eastman Professor at the University of Oxford 2015-2016.
The lecture was held at the Oxford Mathematical Institute on 27 October 2015
Title: Empirical phenomena and universal laws
Abstract
In 1943 Fisher, together with Corbet and Williams, published a study on the relation between the number of species and the number of individuals, which has since been recognized as one of the most influential papers in 20th century ecology. It was a combination of empirical work backed up by a simple theoretical argument, which describes a sort of universal law governing random partitions, such as the celebrated Ewens partition whose original derivation flows from the Fisher-Wright model. This talk will discuss several empirical studies of a similar sort, including Taylor's law and recent work related to Fairfield-Smith's work on the variance of spatial averages.
Report on the lecture
The lecture was a great success. As usual, the lecture was open to the public. The Mathematical Institute kindly hosted a reception for attendees after the lecture. Prof McCullagh and his wife Rosa joined the Trustees, members of the Fisher family and other guests for dinner at Hertford College.
Bursaries
Donations to help support student attendances at scientific meetings were given by the Trust as follows: to the Biometric Society £500, The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) £250, and the Population Genetics Group £1000.
Trustee News
Professor Peter Diggle joined the Trust as an RSS representative to replace Sir David Cox, who had announced his decision to retire from the Trust after many years of service. Andrew Mead joined the trust as a Biometric Society representative to replace John Gower, who had also resigned after many years of service with the Trust.
Trustees for 2015
Biometric Society / Prof Rosemary BaileyBiometric Society / Prof Mike Kenward
Biometric Society / Mr Andrew Mead *
Genetics Society / Prof Brian Charlesworth, FRS
Genetics Society / Prof Adam Eyre-Walker / Treasurer
Royal Society / Sir Walter Bodmer, FRS / Chairman
Royal Statistical Society / Prof Peter Diggle **
Royal Statistical Society / Prof Stephen Senn / Secretary
* Replaced Prof John Gower 1 February 2015 ** Replaced Sir David Cox 1 February 2015
(At the Trust committee meeting held on 27 October 2015, Prof Mike Kenward announced his decision to resign. The nomination of Professor Vern Farewell by the Biometric Society was accepted by the Trust and he replaced Prof Kenward on 1 February 2016.)
Financial
Total income during the year was £10292.52 including a donation of £5000 received. Total expenditure, including donations made, was £3242.88. Total assets stand at £163,484.31. Further details are given in the annual financial statement.