James Durbin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Professor James Durbin
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| Born | 30 June 1923 Widnes, England
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| Died | 23 June 2012 (aged 88) |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Time series analysis Serial correlation Durbin–Watson statistic Durbin test Levinson–Durbin algorithm |
| Children | Richard Durbin |
| Awards | Guy Medal (Bronze, 1966) (Silver, 1976) (Gold, 2008) Fellow of the British Academy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistics Econometrics |
| Institutions | London School of Economics University of Cambridge |
| Academic advisors | Henry Daniels |
James Durbin (born June 30, 1923 – died June 23, 2012) was a very smart British scientist. He was a statistician, which means he worked with numbers and data. He was also an econometrician, studying how math and statistics can explain economic things.
He was especially famous for his work on understanding patterns in data over time. This is called time series analysis. He also studied something called serial correlation. This is about how data points relate to each other in a sequence.
Learning and Early Career
James Durbin was born in Widnes, England. His father was a greengrocer. James went to the Wade Deacon Grammar School there.
He later studied mathematics at St John's College, Cambridge. Other famous statisticians like David Cox also studied there at the same time.
During wartime, James worked with the Army Operational Research Group. After the war, he worked for two years as a statistician. He helped the British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association. He also got a special degree in mathematical statistics from Cambridge. His teacher was Henry Daniels.
Working as a Professor
After working at Cambridge for two years, James Durbin joined the London School of Economics in 1950. He became a professor of statistics in 1961. He kept this important job until he retired in 1988.
Awards and Special Honours
James Durbin was a very respected scientist. He led important groups of statisticians. From 1983 to 1985, he was the president of the International Statistical Institute. He also served as president of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) from 1986 to 1987.
In 2008, he received the highest award from the RSS. It was the Guy Medal in Gold. He had already won the Bronze and Silver medals before this. The award recognized his amazing contributions to statistics. He helped create new ways to test for patterns in data. He also worked on understanding how things change over time.
His last book was called Time Series Analysis by State Space Methods. It was published in May 2012. He wrote this book with Siem Jan Koopman. James Durbin passed away on June 23, 2012.
