The National Academy of Sciences is a private organisation of scientists and engineers dedicated to ‘the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare’. Foreign associates are non-voting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. Eighteen such appointments were made this month, bringing the total number of foreign associates to 387.

Professor Sir John Kingman became an Honorary Fellow of the University in 2001 and is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of Mathematics. In 1985, he was knighted for his work with the Science and Engineering Research Council.

During his illustrious career, he has been Chairman of the Institute of Statisticians (1973-76), President of the Royal Statistical Society (1987-89) and President of the London Mathematical Society (1990-92). He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is a former chairman of the Government Statistics Commission, and a former director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge.