New non-executive director appointed to UKSA

Professor John Aston has been appointed as a non-executive board member of the UK Statistics Authority for a period of three years beginning on 1 July 2021.

Professor Aston is Harding Professor of Statistics in Public Life at the University of Cambridge, where he leads research into the use of quantitative evidence in public policy making, works with those in public life to ensure the best methods are used, and aims to improve the use of statistics and other quantitative evidence in public policy debates. He was awarded a knighthood in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to statistics and public policymaking.

Until recently he was also the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office, and formerly was a board member and trustee of the Alan Turing Institute.

Professor Aston specialises in applied statistics, with particular interests in official and public policy statistics, statistical neuroimaging, and statistical linguistics. He has previously spent time working in the United States and Taiwan.

Professor Aston has been appointed under the provisions of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, for a period of three years, from 1 July 2021 until 30 June 2024.