Norman Fenton
Also known as Norman Elliott Fenton
Norman Fenton is a mathematician and computer scientist whose Bayesian network work reaches into artificial intelligence. He earned a mathematics degree at the London School of Economics in 1978 and a PhD at Sheffield in 1981. In 1998 he helped set up Agena Ltd in Cambridge, which specialises in Bayesian network tools for risk modelling and decision support. He joined Queen Mary University of London as a professor in 2000 and published a book on risk assessment with Bayesian networks in 2012. As of October 2026, he is Emeritus Professor of Risk at Queen Mary University of London and a director of Agena Ltd.
- Now at
- Agena Ltd and Queen Mary University of London
- Works
- 393
- Citations
- 15,988
- h-index
- 59
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1978–1981
A doctorate from Sheffield
He earns a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the London School of Economics in 1978. He completes a PhD at the University of Sheffield in 1981.
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1984–1992
Software metrics research in London
He joins South Bank Polytechnic in London in 1984 and heads its Centre for Software and Systems Engineering. He moves to City University as a reader in software reliability in 1989. His textbook Software Metrics: A Rigorous Approach appears in 1991, and he becomes a professor of computing science in 1992.
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1998–2015
Co-founding Agena Ltd
He helps found Agena Ltd in Cambridge with Martin Neil and Ed Tranham in 1998, and he runs it as chief executive until 2015. The company specialises in Bayesian network tools for risk modelling and decision support, and its founders have published hundreds of papers and books on Bayesian networks for AI.
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2000
A professorship at Queen Mary
He joins Queen Mary University of London as a professor in 2000. He directs its Risk and Information Management Research Group.
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2012
Risk assessment with Bayesian networks
With Martin Neil, he publishes Risk Assessment and Decision Analysis with Bayesian Networks in 2012. A second edition follows in 2018.
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2024
Fighting Goliath on COVID-19 statistics
In 2024 he and Martin Neil publish Fighting Goliath, a book on the science and statistics behind COVID-19.
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As of October 2026
Emeritus professor and Agena director
He is Emeritus Professor of Risk at Queen Mary University of London. He is also a director of Agena Ltd.
Sources and credits
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