As soon as I got up on that stage, and I remembered how welcoming and warming the judges, their presence is, and it was just all uphill from there.

He served as president of the International Statistical Institute in 1983–5 and of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) in 1986–7. In 2008 he was awarded the highest distinction of the RSS the Guy Medal in Gold (having previously been awarded both the Silver and Bronze medals).