Adrian E. Raftery

Timeline

1. 1980–1990

   From Trinity to Washington

   He completes a doctorate in mathematical statistics in Paris in 1980 and lectures in statistics at Trinity College Dublin until 1986. He joins the University of Washington as an associate professor in 1986 and becomes a full professor there in 1990.

2. 1995–2005

   Most cited in mathematics

   Thomson-ISI identifies him as the world's most cited researcher in mathematics for the decade 1995–2005.

3. 1999–2009

   Founding director of a center

   He becomes the founding director of the University of Washington's Center for Statistics and Social Sciences in 1999 and holds that post until 2009.

4. 2009

   Member of the National Academy

   He is elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2009.

5. 2019

   A book on model-based clustering

   He co-writes Model-based Clustering and Classification for Data Science, with Applications in R, published by Cambridge University Press in 2019.

6. 2024

   Bayesian models for UN projections

   Demographic Research publishes his 2024 interview on the UN's probabilistic population projections. Since 2015 these projections use Bayesian statistical models, and a University of Washington team he leads is central to that change.

7. 2026

   A classification research medal

   He receives the International Federation of Classification Societies' 2026 International Medal for Outstanding Research Achievements in Classification.

8. As of October 2026

   An International Chair in France

   He is Blumstein-Jordan Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Sociology at the University of Washington. He also holds an International Chair at 3IA Côte d'Azur, where he works on Bayesian model selection and uncertainty quantification for AI models.