David Hand (statistician)

David Hand
OBE FBA
David Hand OBE FBA
	Hand in 2015
Born	David John Hand; 30 June 1950 (age 74); Peterborough, England
Alma mater	University of Oxford (BA); University of Southampton (PhD)
Awards	Guy Medal (2002); George Box Medal (2016)
	Scientific career
Fields	Statistics; Machine learning; Data mining; Data science; Big data
Institutions	Open University; Imperial College London; Winton Capital Management
Thesis	The Classification of Incomplete Vectors (1977)
Doctoral advisor	Bruce Godfrey Batchelor [Wikidata]
Website	www.imperial.ac.uk/people/d.j.hand

David John Hand OBE FBA (born 30 June 1950 in Peterborough)^[2]^[4] is a British statistician.^[1] His research interests include multivariate statistics, classification methods, pattern recognition, computational statistics and the foundations of statistics.^[5] He has written technical books on statistics, data mining, finance, classification methods, and measuring wellbeing, as well as science popularisation books including The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day;^[6] Dark Data: Why What You Don't Know Matters;^[7] and Statistics: A Very Short Introduction. In 1991 he launched the journal Statistics and Computing.

Education

Hand was educated at the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton where he was awarded a PhD in 1977^[8] for research supervised by Bruce Godfrey Batchelor [Wikidata].^[3]

Career and research

Hand served as professor of statistics at the Open University from 1988 until 1999, when he moved to Imperial College London, where he is now^[when?] Emeritus Professor of Mathematics. Between 2010 and 2018 he took an extended sabbatical to serve as chief scientific advisor at Winton Capital Management.^[2] He served as president of the Royal Statistical Society from 2008 to 2009, then again in 2010 after Bernard Silverman stood down.^[9]

Books

Hand has published 31 books, inter alia:

2001. Principles of Data Mining^[10]
2007. Measurement Theory and Practice: the World Through Quantification ^[11]
2014. (with Paul Allin). The Wellbeing of Nations: Meaning, Motive and Measurement. Wiley.^[12]
2014. The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles and Rare Events Happen All the Time^[6]
2020. From GDP to Sustainable Wellbeing: Changing Statistics or Changing Lives? ^[13]
2020. Dark Data: Why What You Don't Know Matters^[7]

Articles

Hand has published over 300 scientific articles, inter alia:

Hand D.J. and Henley W.E. (1997) Statistical classification methods in consumer credit scoring: a review. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 160, 523-541^[14]
Hand D.J., Blunt G., Kelly M.G., and Adams N.M. (2000) Data mining for fun and profit. Statistical Science, 15, 111-131^[15]
Hand D.J. and Yu K. (2001) Idiot's Bayes - not so stupid after all? International Statistical Review, 69, 385-398^[16]
Bolton R.J. and Hand D.J. (2002) Statistical fraud detection: a review. Statistical Science, 17, 235-255 ^[17]
Hand D.J. (2006) Classifier technology and the illusion of progress (with discussion). Statistical Science, 21, 1-34^[18]
2008. Top 10 algorithms in data mining^[19]
Hand D.J. (2009) Measuring classifier performance: a coherent alternative to the area under the ROC curve. Machine Learning, 77, 103-123^[20]
Hand D.J. (2018) Statistical challenges of administrative and transaction data (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 181, 555-605^[21]

Awards and honours

Hand has received various awards for his work, including being elected Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1999, the Guy Medal in Silver of the Royal Statistical Society in 2002, the IEEE ICDM Outstanding Contributions Award in 2004, the Credit Collections and Risk Award for Contributions to the Credit Industry in 2012, the George Box Medal for Business and Industrial Statistics in 2016, and the International Federation of Classification Societies Research Medal in 2019. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to research and innovation.^[22]^[23] He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 2003.^[4]

In April 2013 until June 2021 he served on the board of the board of the UK Statistics Authority as a non-executive director^[24] and served on the European Statistical Advisory Committee, advising the European Commission from 2016 to 2021. He chaired the Administrative Data Research Network from 2014 to 2017 and serves on many other advisory committees, including chairing the Advisory Board of the ONS's Centre for Applied Data Ethics and the National Statistician's Expert User Advisory Committee.

References

^ ^a ^b David Hand publications indexed by Google Scholar
^ ^a ^b ^c Anon (2007). "Hand, Prof. David John". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U4000379. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b David Hand at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
^ ^a ^b Prof David Hand Authorised Biography at Debrett's People of Today. Accessed 27 January 2011.
^ "Professor David Hand". Imperial College London. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
^ ^a ^b The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles and Rare Events Happen All the Time. Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-17534-4
^ ^a ^b Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters ISBN 978-0691182377
^ Hand, David John (1977). The Classification of Incomplete Vectors (PhD thesis). University of Southampton. OCLC 1116600745. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.458058.
^ "Past President". The Royal Statistical Society. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
^ (with Mannila H. and Smyth P). Principles of Data Mining. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262082907
^ Measurement Theory and Practice: the World Through Quantification. Wiley,ISBN 978-0470685679
^ (with Paul Allin). The Wellbeing of Nations: Meaning, Motive and Measurement. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-48957-4
^ 2020. (with Paul Allin) From GDP to Sustainable Wellbeing: Changing Statistics or Changing Lives? Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-3030530846
^ Hand, D. J.; Henley, W. E. (1997). "Statistical Classification Methods in Consumer Credit Scoring: A Review". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society). 160 (3): 523–541. doi:10.1111/j.1467-985X.1997.00078.x. JSTOR 2983268. S2CID 18547380.
^ Hand, David J.; Blunt, Gordon; Kelly, Mark G.; Adams, Niall M. (2000). "Data Mining for Fun and Profit". Statistical Science. 15 (2): 111–126. JSTOR 2676725.
^ Hand, David J.; Yu, Keming (2001). "Idiot's Bayes: Not So Stupid after All?". International Statistical Review / Revue Internationale de Statistique. 69 (3): 385–398. doi:10.2307/1403452. JSTOR 1403452.
^ Bolton, Richard J.; Hand, David J. (2002). "Statistical Fraud Detection: A Review". Statistical Science. 17 (3). doi:10.1214/ss/1042727940.
^ Hand, David J. (2006). "Classifier Technology and the Illusion of Progress". Statistical Science. 21. doi:10.1214/088342306000000060. S2CID 16325617.
^ with Ross Quinlan, Qiang Yang, Philip S. Yu and Zhou Zhihua et al.. Knowledge and Information Systems 14.1: 1-37 doi:10.1007/s10115-007-0114-2
^ Hand, David J. (2009). "Measuring classifier performance: A coherent alternative to the area under the ROC curve". Machine Learning. 77: 103–123. doi:10.1007/s10994-009-5119-5. hdl:10044/1/18420. S2CID 207211591.
^ Hand, David J. (2018). "Statistical challenges of administrative and transaction data". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics in Society). 181 (3): 555–605. doi:10.1111/rssa.12315. hdl:10044/1/61527. S2CID 126301517.
^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 11.
^ "New Year Honours List 2013 - General List" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
^ "Appointments to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

[gs-1] David Hand publications indexed by Google Scholar

[whoswho-2] Anon (2007). "Hand, Prof. David John". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U4000379. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[mathgene-3] David Hand at the Mathematics Genealogy Project

[pot-4] Prof David Hand Authorised Biography at Debrett's People of Today. Accessed 27 January 2011.

[5] "Professor David Hand". Imperial College London. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

[rare-6] The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles and Rare Events Happen All the Time. Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-17534-4

[dark-7] Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters ISBN 978-0691182377

[PhD-458058-8] Hand, David John (1977). The Classification of Incomplete Vectors (PhD thesis). University of Southampton. OCLC 1116600745. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.458058.

[9] "Past President". The Royal Statistical Society. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

[datamining-10] (with Mannila H. and Smyth P). Principles of Data Mining. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262082907

[11] Measurement Theory and Practice: the World Through Quantification. Wiley,ISBN 978-0470685679

[allin-12] (with Paul Allin). The Wellbeing of Nations: Meaning, Motive and Measurement. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-48957-4

[wellbeing-13] 2020. (with Paul Allin) From GDP to Sustainable Wellbeing: Changing Statistics or Changing Lives? Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-3030530846

[14] Hand, D. J.; Henley, W. E. (1997). "Statistical Classification Methods in Consumer Credit Scoring: A Review". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society). 160 (3): 523–541. doi:10.1111/j.1467-985X.1997.00078.x. JSTOR 2983268. S2CID 18547380.

[15] Hand, David J.; Blunt, Gordon; Kelly, Mark G.; Adams, Niall M. (2000). "Data Mining for Fun and Profit". Statistical Science. 15 (2): 111–126. JSTOR 2676725.

[16] Hand, David J.; Yu, Keming (2001). "Idiot's Bayes: Not So Stupid after All?". International Statistical Review / Revue Internationale de Statistique. 69 (3): 385–398. doi:10.2307/1403452. JSTOR 1403452.

[17] Bolton, Richard J.; Hand, David J. (2002). "Statistical Fraud Detection: A Review". Statistical Science. 17 (3). doi:10.1214/ss/1042727940.

[18] Hand, David J. (2006). "Classifier Technology and the Illusion of Progress". Statistical Science. 21. doi:10.1214/088342306000000060. S2CID 16325617.

[topten-19] with Ross Quinlan, Qiang Yang, Philip S. Yu and Zhou Zhihua et al.. Knowledge and Information Systems 14.1: 1-37 doi:10.1007/s10115-007-0114-2

[20] Hand, David J. (2009). "Measuring classifier performance: A coherent alternative to the area under the ROC curve". Machine Learning. 77: 103–123. doi:10.1007/s10994-009-5119-5. hdl:10044/1/18420. S2CID 207211591.

[21] Hand, David J. (2018). "Statistical challenges of administrative and transaction data". Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics in Society). 181 (3): 555–605. doi:10.1111/rssa.12315. hdl:10044/1/61527. S2CID 126301517.

[22] "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 11.

[23] "New Year Honours List 2013 - General List" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

[24] "Appointments to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

v t e Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
19th century	1834–1836 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1836–1838 Sir Charles Lemon, Bt 1838–1840 The Earl FitzWilliam 1840–1842 Viscount Sandon 1842–1843 The Marquess of Lansdowne 1843–1845 Lord Ashley 1845–1847 The Lord Monteagle of Brandon 1847–1849 The Earl FitzWilliam 1849–1851 The Earl of Harrowby 1851–1853 The Lord Overstone 1853–1855 The Earl FitzWilliam 1855–1857 The Earl of Harrowby 1857–1859 Lord Stanley 1859–1861 Lord John Russell 1861–1863 Sir John Pakington, Bt 1863–1865 William Henry Sykes 1865–1867 The Lord Houghton 1867–1869 William Ewart Gladstone 1869–1871 William Newmarch 1871–1873 William Farr 1873–1875 William Guy 1875–1877 James Heywood 1877–1879 George Shaw-Lefevre 1879–1880 Thomas Brassey 1880–1882 James Caird 1882–1884 Robert Giffen 1884–1886 Rawson W. Rawson 1886–1888 George Goschen 1888–1890 Thomas Graham Balfour 1890–1892 Frederic J. Mouat 1892–1894 Charles Booth 1894–1896 The Lord Farrer 1896–1897 John Biddulph Martin 1897 Alfred Edmund Bateman 1897–1899 Leonard Courtney 1899–1900 Henry Fowler 1900–1902 The Lord Avebury
20th century	1902–1904 Patrick George Craigie 1904–1905 Sir Francis Powell, Bt 1905–1906 The Earl of Onslow 1906–1907 Richard Martin 1907–1909 Sir Charles Dilke, Bt 1909–1910 Jervoise Athelstane Baines 1910–1912 Lord George Hamilton 1912–1914 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth 1914–1915 The Lord Welby 1915–1916 Lord George Hamilton 1916–1918 Bernard Mallet, Registrar General 1918–1920 Herbert Samuel 1920–1922 R. Henry Rew 1922–1924 The Lord Emmott 1924–1926 Udny Yule 1926–1928 The Viscount D'Abernon 1928–1930 A. William Flux 1930–1932 Sir Josiah Stamp 1932–1934 The Lord Meston 1934–1936 Major Greenwood 1936–1938 The Lord Kennet 1938–1940 Arthur Lyon Bowley 1940–1941 Henry William Macrosty 1941 Hector Leak 1941–1943 William Beveridge 1943–1945 Ernest Charles Snow 1945–1947 The Lord Woolton 1947–1949 David Heron 1949–1950 Sir Geoffrey Heyworth 1950–1952 Austin Bradford Hill 1952–1954 Ronald Fisher 1954–1955 The Lord Piercy 1955–1957 Egon Pearson 1957–1959 Harry Campion 1959–1960 Hugh Beaver 1960–1962 Maurice Kendall 1962–1964 Joseph Oscar Irwin 1964–1965 Sir Paul Chambers 1965–1966 L. H. C. Tippett 1966–1967 M. S. Bartlett 1967–1968 Frank Yates 1968–1969 Arthur Cockfield 1969–1970 R. G. D. Allen 1970–1971 Bernard Benjamin 1971–1972 George Alfred Barnard 1972–1973 Harold Wilson 1973–1974 D. J. Finney 1974–1975 Henry Daniels 1975–1977 Stella Cunliffe 1977–1978 Henry Wynn 1978–1980 Sir Claus Moser 1980–1982 David Cox 1982–1984 Peter Armitage 1984–1985 Walter Bodmer 1985–1986 John Nelder 1986–1987 James Durbin 1987–1989 John Kingman 1989–1991 Peter G. Moore 1991–1993 T. M. F. Smith 1993–1995 D. J. Bartholomew 1995–1997 Adrian Smith 1997–1999 Robert Nicholas Curnow 1999–2001 Denise Lievesley
21st century	2001–2003 Peter Green 2003–2005 Andy Grieve 2005–2007 Tim Holt 2008–2009 David Hand 2010–2010 Bernard Silverman (resigned Feb 2010; replaced pro tem by David Hand) 2011–2012 Valerie Isham 2013–2014 John Pullinger 2014–2016 Peter Diggle 2017–2018 David Spiegelhalter 2019– Deborah Ashby
Category List

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Australia Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Latvia Korea Poland Israel Catalonia Belgium
Academics	CiNii ORCID Mathematics Genealogy Project Google Scholar MathSciNet
People	DDB
Other	IdRef