London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Peter Armitage CBE was Professor and Head of Medical Statistics Department at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) from 1961 to 1976. He was a pioneer in combining original research in statistical methodology with collaborative medical research, and greatly enhanced the growth and value of the profession of medical statistics during his LSHTM years. In particular, he founded the Master’s in Medical Statistics in 1968/9, a key training ground for future leaders in the field. His book Statistical Methods in Medical Research quickly became a standard reference with subsequent editions in 1994 and 2002.

Among Peter’s early research innovations, of particular note is his multi-state model of carcinogenesis developed with Richard Doll in the 1950s which provided a conceptual framework on the evolution over time of cancer risk. His work on sequential medical trials formed the basis for much subsequent methodology on statistical stopping guidelines. The Editors of Statistics in Medicine wrote: “Anyone who delves in earnest into medical statistics will almost invariably encounter some facet of the work of Peter Armitage”. Peter received the Royal Statistical Society’s Bronze, Silver and Gold medals during his career, which reflects the statistical community’s high regard for his work over many decades.

Peter left LSHTM to become Professor of Applied Statistics (formerly Biomathematics) at Oxford University. His formal retirement was in 1990, but he continued to make many important contributions, notably his editorship with Ted Colton of the multi-volume: Encyclopedia of Biostatistics, with over 800 contributors and 1,200 articles, some authored by himself. He was also very active on the increasingly important area of Data Monitoring Committees for clinical trials, drawing on his experience in monitoring AIDS trials. The MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge hold their annual Armitage lecture, inaugurated in 2003, as an appropriate recognition of his pivotal contributions to the field. Peter Armitage was President of three key professional bodies: The International Biometric Society (1972), the Royal Statistical Society (1982) and the International Society of Clinical Biostatistics (1990).

Less publicly recognised is the personal support that Peter gave throughout his career to many students and young academics. Professor Stuart Pocock at LSHTM said: “Peter was my career mentor in so many ways: a wonderful Master’s lecturer (I still have his notes), a challenging PhD supervisor, wise counsellor on my US move into cancer trials research and a guiding light into other international collaborations.”

Peter Armitage was a kind, gracious, modest man of immense influence across our profession.

We extend our deepest sympathies to his family who have lost a very special father, father-in-law, grandfather and great-grandfather.