Thomas Hoskyns Leonard (24 March 1948 – 18 December 2023) was a British statistician. He obtained a doctorate in Statistics at the University of London and worked at the University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before taking up the Chair of Statistics at the University of Edinburgh in 1995.
Thomas H. Leonard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 March 1948 Devon, England, UK |
| Died | 18 December 2023 (aged 75) Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Alma mater | Imperial College London University College London |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistics |
| Institutions | University of Warwick (1972–1980) University of Wisconsin-Madison (1979–1996) University of Edinburgh (1995–2001) |
| Doctoral advisor | Dennis Lindley |
In 1972, Leonard co-founded the Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick.[1] During Leonard's tenure (1980–1995) at the Department of Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,[2][3][4] he worked on improving the Bayesian components of both the teaching and research programs, alongside Kam Wah Tsui and Michael Newton.
Leonard published on the Bayesian approach to categorical data analysis, as well as on function smoothing and prior informative density estimation, conditional Laplacian approximations for marginal inference and prediction, and the statistical modelling of log covariance matrices. He also worked on the applications of Bayesian methodology in geophysics, medicine, and psychometrics. He was one of the founders, in 1992, of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis, alongside Arnold Zellner and Gordon Kaufman.[5][6]
Leonard's books include A Course in Categorical Data Analysis[7] and Bayesian Methods: An Analysis for Statisticians and Interdisciplinary Researchers, the latter co-authored with his former doctoral student, John S. J. Hsu,[8][9] At the University of Edinburgh, Leonard collaborated with Ian Main, Orestis Papasouliotis and others on publications in geophysics.[10][11] He was also active during this period in the field of family medicine, contributing to articles on prevention of substance use disorders.[12][13]
Alongside academic publications, he also appeared as an expert witness on statistics in multiple U.S. legal cases.[8]: i
Leonard retired in 2001. He died on 18 December 2023.[14]
Notes edit
- ^ Zeeman, Christopher; Harrison, Jeff; Smith, Jim (2004). The Histories of Mathematics & Statistics at the University of Warwick. University of Warwick. p. 24.
- ^ "Wisconsin History, Dept of Statistics" (PDF).
- ^ "UW Department of Statistics Celebrates 50 Years | Amstat News". magazine.amstat.org. October 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ "50Th ANNIVERSARY DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS University of Wisconsin".
- ^ "ISBA History and Meetings", accessed 25 December 2015
- ^ Ruiz, Diego Andres Perez (December 2016). "Interview: Thomas Leonard" (PDF). The ISBA Bulletin. 23 (4): 11–20. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ Leonard, Thomas (1999-11-22). A Course in Categorical Data Analysis. London: Chapman & Hall. ISBN 9781584881803.
- ^ a b Leonard, Thomas; Hsu, John S. J. (2001-10-01). Bayesian Methods: An Analysis for Statisticians and Interdisciplinary Researchers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521004145.
- ^ "John S.J. Hsu". www.pstat.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
- ^ Main, Ian; Leonard, Thomas; Papasouliotis, Orestis; Hatton, C. G.; Meredith, Philip (September 1999). "One slope or two? Detecting statistically significant breaks of slope in geophysical data, with application to fracture scaling relationships". Geophysical Research Letters. 26 (18): 2801–2804. Bibcode:1999GeoRL..26.2801M. doi:10.1029/1999GL005372. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ Main, Ian; Heffer, Kes; Papasouliotis, Orestis; Leonard, Thomas; Koutsabeloulis, N. C.; Zhang, X.; Li, Lungui (2007). "The Statistical Reservoir Model: Calibrating faults and fractures, and predicting reservoir response to water flood". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 292 (1): 469–482. Bibcode:2007GSLSP.292..469M. doi:10.1144/SP292.25. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ Brown, Richard L.; Leonard, Thomas; Saunders, Laura A.; Papasouliotis, Orestis (February 1997). "A Two-Item Screening Test for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems". The Journal of Family Practice. 44 (2): 151–160. PMID 9040518. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ Brown, Richard L.; Leonard, Thomas; Saunders, Laura A.; Papasouliotis, Orestis (January 1998). "The Prevalence and Detection of Substance Use Disorders among Inpatients Ages 18 to 49: An Opportunity for Prevention". Preventive Medicine. 27 (1): 101–110. doi:10.1006/pmed.1997.0250. PMID 9465360. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Tom Leonard (1948-2023)". Department of Statistics. 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
References edit
- Leonard, Thomas H. (March–April 2014), "A Personal History of Bayesian Statistics", WIREs Computational Statistics, 6 (2): 80–115, doi:10.1002/wics.1293
- Ruiz, Diego Andres Perez (December 2016), "Interview: Thomas Leonard" (PDF), The ISBA Bulletin, 23 (4): 11–20, retrieved 24 December 2023