David Holt CB (29 October 1943 – 15 November 2022) was a British

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

who was

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of Social Statistics at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

. He had been the president of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

(2005–2007), the last director of the Central Statistical Office of the United Kingdom, and the first director of the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

(and ex-officio

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital record ...

Background

Holt took a maths degree and a PhD in statistics at

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

with thesis titled ''Some contributions to the statistical analysis of single and mixed exponential distributions'' in 1970. Throughout his career, his main interests have been survey methods, sampling theory and official statistics. He took a particular interest, through his membership of the

, in the independence of national statistics from government.

Career

Holt's first job was with

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, the national statistics office of Canada, where he spent four years before joining the Department of Social Statistics at the

in 1980. He was Leverhulme Professor of Social Statistics from 1980 to 1995 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor from 1990 to 1995. From 1989 to 1991, he was also vice-president of the International Association of Survey Statisticians (IASS). Holt became the director of the Central Statistical Office and Head of the Government Statistical Service in 1995 and, subsequently, the first director of the

when it was formed on 1 April 1996 from the merger of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS). He was President of the Labour Statistics Congress ( ILO) in 1997 and vice-chair of the United Nations Statistical Commission from 1998 to 1999. Holt returned to the Department of Social Statistics at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in 2000, working part-time as professor of social statistics. He carried out consultancy work for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and was elected president of the

in 2005.

Awards and honours

In 1990 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Holt was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) in the 2000 New Year Honours. He was also the 2003 recipient of the Waksberg Prize in survey methodology.

Personal life and death

Holt died on 15 November 2022, at the age of 79.

References

''"Professor Tim Holt: Career"''
Museum of Learning. Retrieved 20 May 2010. *Tim Holt, Julian Champkin (2007). ''"Tim Holt"'', ''Significance'', vol 4 issue 2, pp 75–76. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Tim 1943 births 2022 deaths Directors of the Central Statistical Office (United Kingdom) Registrars-General for England and Wales Directors of the Office for National Statistics Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Survey methodologists Academics of the University of Southampton British social scientists 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Fellows of the American Statistical Association Companions of the Order of the Bath Alumni of the University of Exeter