A. P. Dawid

Timeline

1. 1956–1969

   Mathematics at Cambridge

   He attends the City of London School from 1956 to 1963 and studies mathematics at Cambridge, earning a BA in 1966. He earns a Diploma in Mathematical Statistics in 1967, studies for a PhD at Imperial, and joins UCL as a Lecturer in Statistics in 1969.

2. 1969–1981

   UCL and City University

   He lectures in statistics at UCL from 1969 to 1978. In 1978, he becomes Professor of Statistics at City University, London, leads its Statistics Section and directs the Statistical Laboratory, then returns to UCL in 1981.

3. 1979–1993

   Conditional independence and AI

   In 1979, he publishes “Conditional independence in statistical theory”. His theory supports computation in probabilistic expert systems and causal inference. He leads UCL’s Department of Statistics from 1983 to 1993; in 1992, he publishes an application of a general propagation algorithm for probabilistic expert systems.

4. 1999–2001

   Probabilistic networks and expert systems

   With Robert Cowell, Steffen Lauritzen, and David Spiegelhalter, he publishes Probabilistic Networks and Expert Systems in 1999. The book wins the first DeGroot Prize in 2001, and he receives the Royal Statistical Society’s Guy Medal in Silver in 2001.

5. 2007–2013

   Professor at Cambridge

   He moves to Cambridge as Professor of Statistics and Fellow of Darwin College in 2007. He retires from Cambridge in 2013 and continues work in mathematical statistics.

6. 2018

   A Royal Society fellowship

   He is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018.

7. 2025

   David Cox statistics award

   In 2025, he receives the David R. Cox Foundations of Statistics Award from the American Statistical Association.

8. As of October 2026

   Emeritus Professor at Cambridge

   As of October 2026, he is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge. His research interests include causal inference, graphical models, forecasting systems, and DNA profiling.