David George Kendall

Life and career David George Kendall was born on 15 January 1918 in Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire, and attended Ripon Grammar School before attending Queen's College, Oxford, graduating in 1939.

He worked on rocketry at the Ministry of Supply's Projectile Development Establishment during World War II, before moving to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1946.

In 1962 he was appointed the first Professor of Mathematical Statistics in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge; in which post he remained until his retirement in 1985. He was elected to a professorial fellowship at Churchill College, and he was a founding trustee of the Rollo Davidson Trust. In 1986, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath.

Kendall was an expert in probability and data analysis, and pioneered statistical shape analysis including the study of ley lines. He defined Kendall's notation for queueing theory.

The Royal Statistical Society awarded him the Guy Medal in Silver in 1955, followed in 1981 by the Guy Medal in Gold. In 1980 the London Mathematical Society awarded Kendall their Senior Whitehead Prize, and in 1989 their De Morgan Medal. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1964. Kendall also played a key role in founding the Bernoulli Society in 1975, and was its initial president.

He was married to Diana Fletcher from 1952 until his death. They had two sons and four daughters, including Wilfrid Kendall, professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick, and journalist Bridget Kendall MBE.

Selected bibliography