Dame Alison Etheridge

Tom Kurtz and Amandine Véber write a tribute to Alison Etheridge, who has been awarded the title Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE; the female counterpart to Knight Commander):

Former IMS President Alison Etheridge is now a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. For most Americans—at least those who watch the Academy Awards—the title of Dame is associated with movie stars. As far as we know, Dame Alison has never been in a movie, but she is certainly a star in every aspect of academic life. She has done groundbreaking research on measure-valued branching processes, population genetics, and the connections between the two. In particular, she has created innovative population genetics models for populations structured in different ways thanks to her long-term collaboration with biologist Nick Barton.

Alison Etheridge is an exceptional leader in Oxford, having served in a number of high-level administrative positions, including Deputy Head of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division and Head of the Statistics Department. Her scientific breadth and rigor were clearly key factors in her management. But there was more to it than that. Her time as Statistics Department Head covered the COVID-19 lockdowns, and her commitment was demonstrated by regularly going to the Department building to operate the fire alarms to keep them in a good state, water the plants that she hadn’t already brought home, and check that the building would be safe for everyone to return to as soon as possible. She can take on all kinds of tasks with humility, just thinking that if the tasks are useful, then someone needs to do them.

Beyond the University, in addition to her work with IMS, she has held leadership positions in an array of British and international organizations including the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and most recently, as the first President of the UK’s Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, AcadMathSci.

Honors that she has received include Fellow of the Royal Society, international member of the US National Academy of Sciences and international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Beyond academic life, she and her husband Lionel Mason successfully brought up two very nice and talented children, Charlotte and Matthew, who are now nearly independent and following the path they have chosen with the same support from their parents as they have always had.

In short, Dame Alison has demonstrated impressive willingness and ability to take on and perform the most challenging tasks in her research and leadership.

If she is the example, there really is nothing like a Dame.

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You can read more about Professor Dame Alison Etheridge DBE OBE FRS at https://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/news/alison-etheridge-appointed-dame-commander-order-british-empire.