ISI presidents

We have a long history and a rich tradition. Officially, the ISI was established in 1885, although the initial international gatherings of statisticians started earlier, back in 1853. Therefore, we are one of the oldest scientific associations still active throughout the world today.

Meet the presidents

Xuming He, President-Elect
2023 - 2025
Xuming He

Xuming He is a statistician known for his contributions to statistical methodology and its applications in various fields. He has made significant contributions to the development of statistical methods for complex data sets and has published research papers in reputable journals.

USA
Stephen Penneck, President (2021-2023)
2021-2023
Stephen Penneck

Stephen Penneck is a British statistician who has made significant contributions to the field of official statistics.

UK
John Bailer, University Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Statistics Miami University
2019 – 2021
A. John Bailer

John Bailer is an American statistician. His work focuses on risk assessment in occupational health, and combining journalism to statistics. 

USA
Helen MacGillivray
2017 – 2019
Helen MacGillivray

Helen Louise MacGillivray is an Australian statistician and statistics educator. She is a past president of the International Association for Statistical Education and of the Statistical Society of Australia.

Australia
Pedro Luis do Nascimento Silva
2015 – 2017
Pedro Luis do Nascimento Silva

Pedro Silva has been working in the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics since 1981. He was the first Brazilian to assume the presidency of the International Statistical Institute.

Brazil
Vijay Nair
2013 – 2015
Vijay Nair

Vijay Nair served as President of the International Statistical Institute and President of the International Society for Business and Industrial Statistics. 

USA
Jae C. Lee
2011 – 2013
Jae Chang Lee

Jae Chang Lee served as the President of ISI, IASC and co-editor of CSDA.

Korea, South
Jozef Teugels
2009 – 2011
Jozef L. Teugels

Jozef Teugels is a Belgian statistician who has made significant contributions to the field of probability and statistics. He has conducted research in various areas, including order statistics, extreme value theory, reliability theory, and stochastic modelling. 

Belgium
Denise Lievesley
2007 – 2009
Denise A. Lievesley

Denise Lievesley is a British statistician and social scientist. She has made significant contributions to the field of statistics and has been actively involved in promoting the use of statistics for policy-making and social research.

UK
Niels Keiding
2005 – 2007
Niels Keiding

Niels Keiding was a Danish statistician known for his significant contributions to biostatistics and the field of statistical methodology. He has made notable research advancements in areas such as survival analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and causal inference.

Denmark
Stephen Stigler
2003 – 2005
Stephen M. Stigler

Stephen M. Stigler is an American statistician and historian of statistics. He is known for his contributions to statistical theory and methodology, particularly in the field of historical statistics. 

USA
Dennis Trewin
2001 – 2003
Dennis Trewin

Dennis Trewin, an Australian former public servant, held the position of Australian Statistician, leading the Australian Bureau of Statistics during his tenure.

Australia
Jean-Louis Bodin
1999 – 2001
Jean-Louis Bodin

Jean-Louis Bodin is the former ISI President, former IAOS President and retired from INSEE, the French National Statistical Institute.

 

France
Willem A. Zwet
1997 – 1999
Willem van Zwet

Willem van Zwet was a Dutch mathematician and statistician. He is known for his contributions to the field of stochastic processes, particularly in the area of probability theory. Van Zwet has made significant research contributions in the study of martingales, random fields, and semimartingales.

The Netherlands
Sir David Cox
1995 – 1997
David Cox

David Cox was a British statistician and educator. Notable among his contributions are logistic regression, the proportional hazards model, and the Cox process.

 

UK
Jayanta Kumar Ghosh
1993 – 1995
Jayanta Kumar Ghosh

Jayanta Kumar Ghosh, an Indian statistician, was a distinguished emeritus professor at the Indian Statistical Institute and also held a professorship in statistics at Purdue University.

India