Sir John Alexander David Aston is a British statistician, Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Home Office (2018–2020), and Professor of Statistics, Statistical Laboratory,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. From 2021 he is the Harding Professor of Statistics in Public Life. And from July 2021 he has also served as a non-executive director on the board of the

UK Statistics Authority The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA, ) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for oversight of the Office for National Statistics, maintaining a national code of practice for official statist ...

. Aston earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in statistics from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Montreal, Quebec. He was an academic at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

and at

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

in Taiwan, before becoming a professor at the University of Cambridge. Aston was one of the 23 attendees of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) during the early stage of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic owing to his CSA role at the time.

Personal life

He and his wife, Karri, have three children.

Honours

He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to statistics and public policymaking.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, John Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Imperial College London McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Academics of the University of Warwick Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Knights Bachelor British mathematical statisticians Fellows of the Royal Society