David George Kendall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1918-01-15)15 January 1918 Ripon,West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 23 October 2007(2007-10-23) (aged 89) Cambridge, England |
| Awards | Guy Medal(Silver, 1955) (Gold, 1981) Weldon Memorial Prize(1974) Sylvester Medal(1976) Senior Whitehead Prize(1980) De Morgan Medal(1989) Fellow of the Royal Society,[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Probability,statistics,statistical shape analysis |
| Institutions | Magdalen College,Oxford Churchill College, Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor | M. S. Bartlett[2] |
| Doctoral students | Nicholas Bingham Rollo Davidson John Kingman Robin Sibson Bernard Silverman Richard Tweedie David Vere-Jones David Williams Adrian Baddeley |
David George KendallFRS[1] (15 January 1918 – 23 October 2007)[3] was anEnglishstatistician andmathematician, known for his work on probability, statistical shape analysis, ley lines andqueueing theory. He spent most of his academic life in theUniversity of Oxford (1946–1962) and theUniversity of Cambridge (1962–1985). He worked withM. S. Bartlett during World War II, and visitedPrinceton University after the war.[4]
David George Kendall was born on 15 January 1918 inRipon,West Riding of Yorkshire, and attendedRipon Grammar School before attendingQueen's College, Oxford, graduating in 1939.[1][5][6]
He worked onrocketry at theMinistry of Supply's Projectile Development Establishment duringWorld War II, before moving toMagdalen College,Oxford, in 1946.
In 1962 he was appointed the firstProfessor of Mathematical Statistics in theStatistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge; in which post he remained until his retirement in 1985. He was elected to a professorial fellowship atChurchill College, and he was a founding trustee of theRollo Davidson Trust. In 1986, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by theUniversity of Bath.[7]
Kendall was an expert inprobability and data analysis, and pioneeredstatistical shape analysis including the study ofley lines. He definedKendall's notation forqueueing theory.
TheRoyal Statistical Society awarded him theGuy Medal in Silver in 1955, followed in 1981 by the Guy Medal in Gold. In 1980 theLondon Mathematical Society awarded Kendall theirSenior Whitehead Prize, and in 1989 theirDe Morgan Medal.[8] He was elected a fellow of theRoyal Society in 1964.Kendall also played a key role in founding theBernoulli Society in 1975, and was its initial president.[9]
He was married to Diana Fletcher from 1952 until his death. They had two sons and four daughters, includingWilfrid Kendall, professor in the Department of Statistics at theUniversity of Warwick, and journalistBridget KendallMBE.[3]
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