Michael Hills died at the age of 86 on 7 January 2021 of COVID-19 after a short period of worsening ill-health. In his long career, he influenced many through his teaching and mentoring, his books, statistical packages and broad research interests, including those in history, art and politics.

He was joint editor for Applied Statistics (now Series C) between 1981 and 1984 when the breadth of his expertise shone, as well as his care for young authors (of which I for one was a direct beneficiary). He is best known for his contributions to the life of the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where he worked over two spells, first between 1962 and 1971, and then from 1985 to 1996, when he (officially but not practically) retired. In between, he worked at the Natural History Museum, as Head of Biometrics and Computing, and also at the Open University, as Lecturer in Statistics.

Michael loved teaching and educated scores of researchers with beautifully prepared and ever-so-succinct short courses held across Europe and beyond, most notably at the ‘Florence Summer School’ (the European Educational Programme in Epidemiology) where he taught from its inception in 1991 till only a few years ago. He had the special gift of being able to reduce statistical and methodological concepts to their essence, which were then communicated with exceptional clarity. His book with David Clayton (Clayton and Hills 1993, Statistical Models in Epidemiology. Oxford: Oxford University Press) is a typical example of this. It is a classic reference as, like no other textbook before, it offered an accessible but yet formal link between statistical modelling and estimation, and the goals of epidemiological research.

Beyond his teaching, Michael made several valuable and enduring contributions to the literature, besides his book with David Clayton. He published in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A and B, Applied Statistics, The Statistician, Biometrics and Biometrika, among others. The topics ranged from study design to the analysis of binary and discrete data, and the applications included anthropometry, medicine and epidemiology, giving testimony to the breadth of his methodological and applied work.

Michael was a witty, self-effacing, kind, rigorous man with deep intellectual integrity. These features inspired his students, colleagues and collaborators everywhere. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.

迈克尔·希尔斯 (Michael Hills) 在短暂的健康状况恶化后于 2021 年 1 月 7 日因 COVID-19 去世，享年 86 岁。在他漫长的职业生涯中，他通过他的教学和指导、他的书籍、统计资料和广泛的研究兴趣影响了许多人，包括历史、艺术和政治领域。

1981 年至 1984 年期间，他担任Applied Statistics（现为 C 系列）的联合编辑，当时他的专业知识广为人知，并且他对年轻作者的关心（其中我是其中的一个直接受益者）。他最出名的是他对伦敦卫生和热带医学学院的贡献，在那里他工作了两次，第一次是在 1962 年到 1971 年之间，然后是从 1985 年到 1996 年，当时他（正式但实际上不是）退休了。在此期间，他曾在自然历史博物馆担任生物识别和计算主管，并在开放大学担任统计学讲师。

迈克尔喜欢在欧洲及其他地区教授和教育数十名研究人员，并在欧洲及其他地区举办精心准备且非常简洁的短期课程，最着名的是在“佛罗伦萨暑期学校”（欧洲流行病学教育计划），他从 1991 年开始就在那里任教直到几年前。他有一种特殊的天赋，能够将统计和方法论概念简化为本质，然后以异常清晰的方式进行交流。他与 David Clayton 合着的书（Clayton 和 Hills 1993，流行病学统计模型. 牛津：牛津大学出版社）就是一个典型的例子。这是一本经典的参考资料，因为它与以前的其他教科书不同，它在统计建模和估计与流行病学研究的目标之间提供了一种易于理解但又正式的联系。

除了他的教学之外，除了与大卫克莱顿合着的书之外，迈克尔还对文学做出了一些宝贵而持久的贡献。他在皇家统计学会期刊 A和B、应用统计学、统计学家、生物统计学和Biometrika等杂志上发表过文章。主题范围从研究设计到二元和离散数据的分析，应用包括人体测量学、医学和流行病学，证明了他的方法论和应用工作的广度。

迈克尔是一个机智、谦虚、善良、严谨的人，有着深厚的智力正直。这些功能激发了他在各地的学生、同事和合作者的灵感。他会被深深地怀念和深情地记住。