Our History

Honors and Awards

Honorary Life Membership

Honorary Life Members are Regular Members elected by Representative Council to the status of Honorary Life Members of the Society. Honorary Life Members have all the rights and privileges of a Regular Member but are exempt from the payment of annual dues. The announcement of the newly elected Honorary Life Member, if any, is made by the President at the International Biometric Conference.

Honorary Life Member Awardees

Year Name Region
1964 Chester Ittner Bliss (1899-1979) Eastern North American Region
1964 Gertrude Mary Cox (1900-1978) Eastern North American Region
1971 Gustavo Barbensi (1875-1974) Italian Region
1971 George W. Snedecor (1881-1974) Eastern North American Region
1971 Frank Yates (1902-1994) British & Irish Region
1975 Arthur Linder (1904-1993) Austro-Swiss Region
1976 William G. Cochran (1909-1980) Eastern North American Region
1978 Erna Weber (1897-1988) Region of the German Democratic Republic
1984 David J. Finney (1917-2018) British & Irish Region
1985 C. R. Rao Eastern North American Region
1998 Peter Armitage British & Irish Region
1998 Pierre Dagnelie (dec. 2022) Belgian Region
2001 David Cox British & Irish Region
2003 Rob Kempton (1946-2003) British & Irish Region
2004 L.C.A. Corsten The Netherlands Region
2006 John Ashworth Nelder (1924-2010) British & Irish Region
2006 Norman E. Breslow (1941-2015) Western North American Region
2008 Niels Keiding Nordic Baltic Region
2010 Robert N. Curnow British & Irish Region
2012 Susan Wilson Australasian Region
2014 Lutz Edler German Region
2014 Roger Mead (1938-2015) British & Irish Region
2014 Byron Morgan British & Irish Region
2016 Kaye Basford Australasian Region
2016 Peter Bauer Austro-Swiss Region
2016 Thomas Louis Eastern North American Region
2018 Marie Davidian Eastern North American Region
2018 Hans C. van Houwelingen The Netherlands Region
2018 Martin Schumacher German Region
2018 Alan H. Welsh Australasian Region
2020 Warren J. Muller Australasian Region
2022 Lynne Billard ENAR Region
2022 Jean-Louis Foulley French Region
2022 Elizabeth Thompson WNAR Region

IBS Awards

Two of the Society’s most revered Awards are given in even numbered years to coincide with the International Biometric Conference. These are the Rob Kempton Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Biometry in the Developing World and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the IBS.

Rob Kempton Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Biometry in the Developing World

The International Biometrics Society (IBS) announces that nominations are now open for one of the Society’s most revered awards. This is the Rob Kempton Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Biometry in the Developing World. The award will be presented at the International Biometric Conference in Riga, Latvia during IBC 2022.

The award consists of a Recognition Award, which will be presented in Riga, and complimentary IBS membership for the next calendar year (which may be donated to a member from a lower-and-middle-income country, if the award winner so chooses). A full list of Kempton Award recipients may be found here.

We invite Regional Presidents and/or Network coordinators to submit nominations of Regular members until 15 March 2022.

Instructions:

  • Those submitting a nomination must be either a Region President or Network Coordinator.
  • Each nomination must be in support of a member who, in the eyes of the nominator, has made or is making significant contributions to the development of biometry in the developing world.
  • Current Representative Council Members and Executive Board Members are ineligible for nomination. A list of these members may be viewed here.
  • The nomination must be sponsored by at least two Regular members from other Regions.
  • A statement supporting the nomination should be submitted in editable text by the sponsor.
  • Please send all nominations via e-mail to Representative Council Liaison Lila Horowitz at lhorowitz@biometricsociety.org with a copy sent to Executive Director Peter Doherty at pdoherty@biometricsociety.org.
  • Nominations will only be accepted through 15 March 2022.

The IBS Representative Council will receive and consider all nominations in late March, 2022. Note that the nominee should not be made aware of the nomination that is being made on their behalf. The Representative Council will make the final decision regarding all Kempton Award Winners.

 If you would like a sample nomination package, please contact the International Business Office at lhorowitz@biometricsociety.org. We invite you to make nominations of those colleagues worthy of recognition. Thank you for your interest!

Rob Kempton Award - Past Recipients

  • 2022 - Mary Lou Thompson (WNAR Region)
  • 2020 – Henry G. Mwambi (South African Region)
  • 2018 – Jim Todd (British & Irish Region/ Tanzanian Region)
  • 2016 – Kaye Basford (AR)* - listed as winner on /6092-2/
  • 2016 – Jane Hutton (British & Irish Region)
  • 2014 – No award was given
  • 2012 – Paul Janssen (Belgian Region)
  • 2010 – Clarice G. B. Demétrio (Brazilian Region)
  • 2008 – Larry Nelson (Central American-Caribbean Region)
  • 2006 – Sagary Kaku Nokoe (Group Nigeria) 

Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the IBS

 

The International Biometric Society has presented an Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Development of the IBS since 2006. In addition to a recognition award, recipients of the award receive complimentary IBS membership for the next calendar year.

Aim:  To honor the contributions of IBS members to the development to the society, and to promote the participation of members in the development of the society.

Prize:  Recognition Award and complimentary IBS membership for the next calendar year.

Eligibility:  Any IBS member who has made or is making a significant contribution to the development of the IBS is eligible to be nominated.

Application process:  Individuals may be nominated by a Regional President or Network Coordinator, with support from IBS members from at least two (2) other Regions.
 
Timetable and Instructions:  The nomination deadline is 15 March 2022. Nominations and letters of support for the award should be sent via e-mail to Representative Council Liaison Lila Horowitz at lhorowitz@biometricsociety.org with a copy sent to Executive Director Peter Doherty at pdoherty@biometricsociety.org.

Reminders:

  • Regional Presidents or Network Coordinators may submit a nomination of any regular member.
  • Each nomination must be sponsored by two (2) regular members from at least two other Regions.
  • A statement of support of the nomination should be in editable text by the sponsor.
  • Current Representative Council members and Executive Board members are ineligible for nomination.
  • The Representative Council will make the final decision on all award winners. The announcement of the awards shall be made by the IBS President at the 2022 International Biometric Conference in Riga, Latvia.

If you would like a sample submission, please contact the International Business Office at lhorowitz@biometricsociety.org.

Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the IBS - Past Award Recipients

  • 2022 - Jürgen Kübler (German Region)
  • 2020 – Motomi (Tomi) Mori (Western North American Region)
  • 2016 – Jane Hutton (British & Irish Region) 
  • 2014 – Linda J. Young (Eastern North American Region)
  • 2012 – Marie Davidian (Eastern North American Region)
  • 2010 – Geert Molenberghs (Belgian Region)
  • 2008 – Laurence Freedman (Eastern Mediterranean Region)
  • 2006 – Andrew Mead (British & Irish Region)

Best Paper in Biometrics by an IBS Member

The award is given by the IBS biennially to one Biometrics paper from each of the previous two years identified by the co-editors as being of the highest quality and importance.

  • 2022 – Hong, C., Salanti, G., Morton, S. C., Riley, R. D., Chu, H., Kimmel, S. E., & Chen, Yong | Title: Testing small study effects in multivariate meta‐analysis (76(4): 1240-1250, 2020)
  • 2022 – Tran, Trung Dung, Lesaffre, E., Verbeke, G., & Duyck, J.  | Title: Latent Ornstein‐Uhlenbeck models for Bayesian analysis of multivariate longitudinal categorical responses. (77(2): 689-701, 2021)

Best Paper in JABES by an IBS Member

The award is given by the IBS biennially to one JABES paper from each of the previous two years.

  • 2022 – Théo Michelot, Richard Glennie, Catriona Harris, and Len Thomas | Title: Varying-Coefficient Stochastic Differential Equations with Applications in Ecology 26: 446-463 (2020)
  • 2022 –Giri Gopalan and Christopher K. Wikle | Title: A Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition Tensor Emulator for Spatiotemporal Simulators 27: 22-45 (2021)