William Gilmore Stevenson, ‘Gil’, to his friends, was born on 22 December 1943 in Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland (NI) and died on 31 January 2021 in Belfast. Educated at Grosvenor High School, Belfast, on completion of his Higher National Certificate, Gil joined the Biometrics division of the Department of Agriculture in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1962. He then pursued a Higher National Certificate in Applied Physics (part-time) at Belfast Technical College, graduating in 1966. In Biometrics, he became enthused by statistics and was awarded MIS status by the Institute of Statisticians (London) in 1974. Later Gil obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics (1988) and an MSc in Statistics (1990), both from Sheffield City Polytechnic. Gil’s career as a Statistician began in Biometrics and it was there that he developed a passion for applied statistics, designing experimental trials and solving problems of practical significance. He became interested in statistical computing, programmed in Fortran and used the major statistical software packages. He reached the rank of Senior Scientific Officer and, subsequently, became a Principal Statistician in the Department of Finance and Personnel. There, he was responsible for developing statistical and computing methodologies for large household studies in Northern Ireland. He was also consulted for statistical advice on a wide range of policy issues and played a key role in developing methods for monitoring equality of opportunity in Northern Ireland publishing ‘Practical aspects of monitoring equality of opportunity in a large organisation’ in 1988 (see The Statistician (1988), 37, 257–270).

At this time, Gil was also involved with the RSS which he had joined in 1975 and with the Northern Ireland Local Group (RSSNI). He was an enthusiastic Fellow and rose to Chair the Local Group Executive Committee for 8 consecutive years (1989–1996). As Chair of RSSNI, he was appointed to the first All-Ireland Statistical Committee which was established at the Conference on Applied Statistics in Ireland (CASI) held at Dunadry, County Antrim, in 1991. It was this Committee that set up the Irish Statistical Association in 1997.

Subsequently, Gil left Finance and moved to Health but soon he decided to work in the private sector as an independent statistical consultant. He had always been critical of the lack of technical analysis and incisive commentary that characterised Official Statistics. Unsurprisingly, he named his consultancy ‘Real Statistics’.

As a consultant Gil’s work covered a wide range of areas including the evaluation of the statistical methodologies used in commercial contracts; the analysis of national recruitment competitions; the development of sampling methodologies and the quality assurance of the methodologies employed by government statisticians. He also appeared in the role of ‘expert witness’ in court cases, lectured in statistics at the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast, and provided authoritative advice and practical support in the design and analysis of numerous medical research studies. He was an outstanding consultant and co-authored many medical publications. However, it was from the teaching of statistics that Gil gained the most job satisfaction. He approached teaching with a missionary zeal and was meticulous in planning lectures and developing material that would bring his lessons to life. He gave freely of his time and generously provided statistical support to countless numbers of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Throughout his career, Gil was quick to call out the misuse of statistics and highlight occasions where the assumptions underpinning the use of a particular statistical procedure had not been met. He was his own man, a consummate professional, fearless in challenging the status quo and courageous in ‘speaking truth to power’.

It would be remiss of us not to record Gil’s other passions. He was an experienced sailor and Gil and Vivienne were members of the East Down Yacht Club. They participated regularly in the local racing and frequently cruised the West coast of Scotland in ‘Caragh’, their Dehler 31 yacht. Gil loved the natural world and its forces. He was happiest when attempting to navigate a passage through the strong tides and currents of Strangford Lough. He was a much sought after ‘Committee’ man, and chaired (for around 8 years) the Strangford Lough Management Committee, which was closely involved with the Commissioner of Irish Lights and other bodies in improving navigational lights in Strangford Lough.

In short, Gilmore Stevenson was a much-respected figure on the Northern Ireland statistical landscape, and he will be missed by his many friends and colleagues.

威廉·吉尔摩·史蒂文森 (William Gilmore Stevenson) 于 1943 年 12 月 22 日出生在北爱尔兰 (NI) 唐郡的纽敦纳兹 (Newtownards, Co. Down)，他的朋友们称之为“吉尔”，并于 2021 年 1 月 31 日在贝尔法斯特去世。吉尔在贝尔法斯特格罗夫纳高中接受教育，完成国家高级证书后，于 1962 年加入北爱尔兰公务员系统农业部生物识别部门。然后他获得了应用物理高级国家证书（兼职）在贝尔法斯特技术学院，1966 年毕业。在生物计量学方面，他对统计学充满热情，并于 1974 年被统计学家协会（伦敦）授予 MIS 地位。后来 Gil 获得了应用统计学研究生文凭（1988 年）和理学硕士学位统计数据 (1990)，均来自谢菲尔德市理工学院。Gil 的统计学家职业生涯始于生物识别学，正是在那里，他对应用统计学、设计实验试验和解决具有实际意义的问题产生了热情。他对统计计算产生了兴趣，用 Fortran 编程并使用了主要的统计软件包。他晋升为高级科学官，随后成为财务和人事部的首席统计师。在那里，他负责为北爱尔兰的大型家庭研究开发统计和计算方法。

此时，吉尔还参与了他于 1975 年加入的 RSS 和北爱尔兰地方组织 (RSSNI)。他是一位热情的研究员，并连续 8 年（1989 年至 1996 年）担任当地集团执行委员会主席。作为 RSSNI 主席，他被任命为第一个全爱尔兰统计委员会成员，该委员会于 1991 年在爱尔兰安特里姆郡 Dunadry 举行的爱尔兰应用统计会议 (CASI) 上成立。正是该委员会成立了爱尔兰统计委员会1997年协会。

随后，Gil 离开了 Finance 并转到 Health，但很快他决定在私营部门工作，担任独立统计顾问。他一直批评官方统计缺乏技术分析和精辟评论。不出所料，他将自己的咨询公司命名为“Real Statistics”。

作为顾问，Gil 的工作涵盖了广泛的领域，包括评估商业合同中使用的统计方法；全国招聘竞赛分析；抽样方法的发展和政府统计人员采用的方法的质量保证。他还在法庭案件中扮演“专家证人”的角色，在阿尔斯特大学和贝尔法斯特女王大学讲授统计学，并在众多医学研究的设计和分析中提供权威建议和实践支持。他是一位杰出的顾问，并与他人合着了许多医学出版物。然而，吉尔获得了最大的工作满意度，却是从统计学的教学中获得的。他以传教士的热情对待教学，并一丝不苟地计划讲座和编写材料，使他的课程栩栩如生。他无私地奉献自己的时间，慷慨地为无数本科生和研究生提供统计支持。

在他的整个职业生涯中，吉尔很快就指出了统计数据的滥用，并强调了支持使用特定统计程序的假设没有得到满足的情况。他是自己的人，一个完美的专业人士，无所畏惧地挑战现状，勇敢地“对权力说真话”。

不记录吉尔的其他激情是我们的疏忽。他是一位经验丰富的水手，Gil 和 Vivienne 是 East Down 游艇俱乐部的成员。他们定期参加当地的比赛，并经常乘坐他们的 Dehler 31 游艇“Caragh”在苏格兰西海岸巡航。吉尔热爱自然世界及其力量。当他试图穿越斯特兰福德湖的强大潮汐和水流时，他最开心。他是备受追捧的“委员会”成员，并担任斯特兰福德湖管理委员会主席（大约 8 年），该委员会与爱尔兰灯和其他机构密切合作，以改善斯特兰福德湖的航行灯。

简而言之，吉尔摩史蒂文森是北爱尔兰统计领域备受尊敬的人物，他的许多朋友和同事都会想念他。