A Journey Through Academia: Some Personal Reflections as a Member of an Under-Represented Group(s)
- 29th Oct 2025 (3-4pm, LT908)
- Ruth King FLSW FRSE (University of Edinburgh)
Talk title: A journey through academia: Some personal reflections as a member of an under-represented group(s)
Talk Abstract: In this talk I will present a brief overview of my career, discussing why I became interested in Statistics and how this led to my academic journey to date, including several critical turning points. I will present personal reflections in the context of being an individual from an under-represented group through different career stages and in particular how this has subsequently informed how I now approach situations and in particular decision-making. I will also aim to discuss some aspects of leadership (at least as I see it) including some challenges this brings, as well as opportunities to support diversity.
Short bio: Professor Ruth King FLSW FRSE is the Thomas Bayes’ Chair of Statistics at the University of Edinburgh, where she joined the School of Mathematics in 2015. Since August 2023, she has also served as Director of the Bayes Centre, the university’s innovation hub for Data Science and AI.
She is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2017), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2018), and the Institute for Mathematical Statistics (2022). In the same year, she received the Royal Statistical Society’s Barnett Award.
Ruth has held several prominent roles within the statistical community, including President of the International Biometrics Society British and Irish Region (2019–20), Council Member of the Royal Statistical Society (2018–21), and Deputy Director of the National Centre for Statistical Ecology (2019–23). She co-founded the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Statistics in 2017 and was part of the founding team behind the popular MOOC Statistics: Unlocking the World of Data.