Sir Adrian Smith PRS, President of the Royal Society from 2020-2025, has joined the advisory board of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR).

He visited the University of Bath campus on Friday 19 June, attending the IPR’s board meeting for the first time, alongside Chair of the board Lord John Eatwell, and the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Phil Taylor (pictured).

Sir Adrian’s visit to campus also saw him meet with academics in Mathematics and Computer Science to learn about their research.

Himself a mathematician with expertise in Bayesian statistics, Sir Adrian has published research on a diverse range of topics including medical statistics and demography, making a major impact on the use of statistics in many disciplines and application areas.

Between 2008-2012, he was Director General, Knowledge and Innovation in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. In 2017 he carried out a review of the maths curriculum for 16-18 year olds for the Treasury and Department for Education.

He recently stepped down as Institute Director and Chief Executive of The Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and AI.

Professor Nick Pearce, Director of the IPR, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sir Adrian Smith to the Advisory Board of the IPR. His wealth of knowledge and experience on science and policy - in government, academia and, of course, as a former President of the Royal Society - offer enormous value to the IPR, as well as to the wider University."