UK Space Conference Speaker: Professor Sir Adrian Smith, FRS

From 1 December 2010, Professor Smith was appointed Director General, Knowledge and Innovation in BIS, having been Director General, Science and Research originally in DIUS from September 1, 2008 and subsequently in BIS.  For the previous 10 years Professor Smith was Principal of Queen Mary, University of London.  Prior to being Principal of Queen Mary, Professor Smith was at Imperial College, London, where he held a number of posts over an eight-year period.  These included: Professor of Statistics, Head of Department of Mathematics, Member of the Management and Planning Group and Company Director of ICON (Imperial Consultancy).  From 1977-1990 he was Professor of Statistics at Nottingham, Head of Department of Mathematics and a member of the University Council.  Professor Smith has also held posts at Oxford and University College, London. He read undergraduate mathematics at Cambridge University, followed by postgraduate work in Statistics at University College London.

Professor Smith has been the Treasurer of Universities UK, a member of the governing body of the London Business School and a past Chair of London Higher, the regional umbrella body representing London’s 42 Higher Education Institutions.  He served on the Advisory Committee to the UK Government Office for National Statistics from 1996-1998, worked for the UK Government Department of the Environment from 1991-1998 as a Statistical Advisor to the Nuclear Waste Inspectorate and for the Ministry of Defence from 1982 to 1987 as adviser on Operational Analysis.  Professor Smith has also worked with the UK Higher Education Funding and Research Councils and was Deputy Chair of the UK Statistics Authority prior to taking up his post in DIUS.

Professor Smith has held numerous statistical consultancies in the private sector, in business and finance, the pharmaceutical industry and communications and power industries.

Professor Smith is a past President of the Royal Statistical Society and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001 in recognition of his contribution to statistics.    In 2003-04 he undertook an Inquiry into Post-14 Mathematics Education for the UK Secretary of State for Education and Skills.  In 2006 he completed a report for the UK Home Secretary on the issue of public trust in Crime Statistics.  He received a knighthood in the 2011 New Year Honours List.