Ross Ihaka (University of Auckland), whose work with Robert Gentleman
in creating the "R" system for statistical computing was featured on
the front page of Issue 3 of our NZ-IMAges bulletin, was awarded the
Pickering Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand at the NZ Science
Honours Dinner in Wellington on 11th November. The Pickering Medal,
which recognises excellence and innovation in practical applications
of technology, is one of the three premier awards made by the RSNZ at
the annual dinner.
The uptake of the "R" system has been phenomenal. It has become the
statistical package of choice for many statisticians around the world,
particularly in universities, but also industry and government. For
example, it is invaluable for processing huge amounts of genomic and
survival data. "R" is sponsored by notable companies and organisations
such as Astra Zeneca, HortResearch, Merck, Sharp & Dohme, and Telecom.
It is used for both teaching and research by hundreds of universities
around the world, including Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and Berkeley.
There are over 40 books written about, or featuring, the use of "R",
and the package and the journal paper introducing it have been cited
over 1700 times, by far the highest for publications in the mathematical
sciences over the last ten years, worldwide. It is now disseminated
through 75 internet sites in 30 different countries.
