Editorial: 25 years of applied statistics

Abstract

An Indian boy in search of statistics is the true beginning of Gopal Kanji’s academic career. He joined She eld University in 1960 as a Research Assistant in Statistics and was later made an Assistant Lecturer. While he was there, he realized that there was a real need to develop the applied nature of statistics. In 1966, he decided to join the She eld College of Technology in order to achieve this desire and to teach applied statistics. She eld College of Technology was later renamed She eld City Polytechnic and then became She eld Hallam University. Since 1966, along with the various changes within the institution, Gopal pro- gressed from Assistant Lecturer to Head of Department in Applied Statistics. Being an active member of the Royal Statistical Society and the Institute of Statisticians, he has been elected to serve as council member of the Royal Statistical Society and the Institute of Statisticians. He has also been an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. He has published about 50 research papers and ®ve books, and acted as Editor of The Statistician. He has presented papers both in applied statistics and total quality management all over the world including the US, Canada, Argentina, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, France, Italy, Philippines, Israel, Bahrain and Egypt. In addition to his teaching and research, his expertise in statistics and total quality management has been invaluable to many organizations including UNDO, UNDP and the Ministry of Defence (UK) Project, British Steel, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, the Government of India, and other UK and non-UK industries.