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{{Short description|Indian statistician (born 1935)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Kanti V. Mardia {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}
|image = Kanti mardia.jpg
|image_size = 200px
|caption = Mardia in 2008
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1935|04|03}}
|birth_place =
|death_date =
|death_place =
|field = Statistics
|work_institutions = [[University of Leeds]]
|education = PhD (1965) from [[University of Rajasthan]], PhD (1967) and DSc (1973) from [[University of Newcastle Upon Tyne]]
|alma_mater = [[Ismail Yusuf College]], [[University of Bombay]], [[University of Poona]], [[University of Rajasthan]], [[University of Newcastle Upon Tyne]]
|known_for = [[Bivariate von Mises distribution]] [[Multivariate Pareto distribution]] [[Multivariate normal distribution#Multivariate normality tests|Mardia test]]
|prizes = [[Guy Medal]] (Silver, 2003) [[Wilks Memorial Award]] (2013)
|footnotes =
|signature =
}}

'''Kantilal Vardichand''' "'''Kanti'''" '''Mardia''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (born 1935) is an Indian-British statistician specialising in [[directional statistics]], [[multivariate analysis]], [[geostatistics]], statistical [[bioinformatics]] and [[statistical shape analysis]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Geometry Driven Statistics |series=Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2015 |isbn=9781118866573 |editor-last=Dryden |editor-first=Ian L. and John T. Kent |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781118866641}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2014-02-04 |title='Statistics provides a challenge somewhat akin to Sherlock Holmes' task: how to find hidden truth in any data, from small to big.' An interview with Samuel S. Wilks Award winner Kanti Mardia |url=https://www.statisticsviews.com/article/statistics-provides-a-challenge-somewhat-akin-to-sherlock-holmes-task-how-to-find-hidden-truth-in-any-data-from-small-to-big-an-interview-with-samuel-s-wilks-award-winne/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Stats & Data Science Views |language=en-GB}}</ref> He was born in [[Sirohi]], [[Rajasthan]], India in a [[Jainism|Jain]] family and now resides and works in [[Leeds]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Nitis |date=May 2002 |title=A Conversation with Kanti Mardia |url=https://projecteuclid.org/journals/statistical-science/volume-17/issue-1/A-Conversation-with-Kanti-Mardia/10.1214/ss/1023799001.full |journal=[[Statistical Science]] |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=113–148, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3182813 |doi=10.1214/ss/1023799001 |issn=0883-4237 |via=Project Euclid}}</ref> He is known for his series of tests of multivariate normality based measures of multivariate skewness and kurtosis<ref>L. Baringhaus and N. Henze (1992) Limit Distributions for Mardia's Measure of Multivariate Skewness. The Annals of Statistics 20(4):1889–1902</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cain |first1=Meghan K. |last2=Zhang |first2=Zhiyong |last3=Yuan |first3=Ke-Hai |date=2017-10-01 |title=Univariate and multivariate skewness and kurtosis for measuring nonnormality: Prevalence, influence and estimation |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-016-0814-1 |journal=Behavior Research Methods |language=en |volume=49 |issue=5 |pages=1716–1735 |doi=10.3758/s13428-016-0814-1 |pmid=27752968 |issn=1554-3528|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Mardia, K. V. (1970). Measures of multivariate skewness and kurtosis. Biometrika 57:519–530</ref> as well as work on the statistical measures of shape.<ref>{{cite journal|title= The statistical analysis of shape data| author= Mardia KV and IL Dryden |year=1989| journal=Biometrika| volume=76| issue=2| pages=271–281| doi=10.1093/biomet/76.2.271}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Mardia was educated at the [[Ismail Yusuf College]] at the [[University of Bombay]] (BSc 1955, MSc in statistics 1957), the [[University of Poona]] (MSc in pure mathematics 1961), the [[University of Rajasthan]] (PhD 1965) and the [[University of Newcastle Upon Tyne]] (PhD 1967, DSc 1973).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-05-11 |title=University of Leeds, Kanti Mardia - Education |url=http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/education.html |access-date=2024-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511122804/http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/education.html |archive-date=11 May 2009 }}</ref> He held academic positions at the [[The Institute of Science, Mumbai|Institute of Science, Mumbai]] and the [[University of Hull]].

Mardia was appointed professor of applied statistics and head of the Department of Statistics in the School of Mathematics at the [[University of Leeds]] in 1973. He retired in 2000 with the title [[emeritus]] professor and is currently senior research professor of applied statistics at [[University of Leeds|Leeds]], where he has held the Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leeds.ac.uk/calendar/emeritus.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926134723/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/calendar/emeritus.htm|url-status=dead|title=University of Leeds, List of Emeritus Professors|archivedate=26 September 2012}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20231210082206/http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/ University of Leeds, Staff Profile]</ref> He has been a long-term visiting professor at the University of Oxford since 2013, and was adjunct faculty with the [[Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad]] from 2012 to 2014.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

He helped establish both the Centre of Medical Imaging Research (CoMIR) and the Centre of Statistical Bioinformatics (CoSB) at Leeds, and was initially the director of CoMIR.<ref name=":3" /> He has written several books and edited conference proceedings.

In 1973, Mardia founded the University of Leeds Annual Statistics Research Workshops, designed to promote interdisciplinary research. These workshops attract an international audience and focus on applied statistical topics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leeds Annual Statistical Research Workshop (LASR) 2024 {{!}} LASR2024 |url=https://conferences.leeds.ac.uk/lasr2024/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=conferences.leeds.ac.uk}}</ref>

Mardia has received a number of honours, including a 2003 [[Guy Medal|Guy Medal in Silver]] from the [[Royal Statistical Society]], which noted "his many path breaking contributions to statistical science ... and his lasting leadership role in interdisciplinary research";<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009 |title=Statistics in a Changing Society - 175 Years of Progress |url=https://rss.org.uk/RSS/media/File-library/Conference/RSS-2009-abstracts-booklet.pdf |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Royal Statistical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| title = Guy Medal in Silver
| publisher = [[Royal Statistical Society]]
| access-date = 22 January 2008
| url = http://www.rss.org.uk/main.asp?page=2478
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080118235720/http://www.rss.org.uk/main.asp?page=2478
| archive-date = 18 January 2008
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> the 2013 [[Wilks Memorial Award]] from the [[American Statistical Association]], which noted his "seminal results in shape analysis, spatial statistics, multivariate analysis, directional data analysis, and bioinformatics";<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2013 |title=Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Award |url=https://magazine.amstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Amst_October2013.pdf |journal=Amstat News |issue=436 |pages=21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Award |url=https://www.amstat.org/your-career/awards/samuel-s-wilks-memorial-award |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212011855/https://www.amstat.org/your-career/awards/samuel-s-wilks-memorial-award |archive-date=2022-02-12 |access-date=30 September 2024 |publisher=[[American Statistical Association]]}}</ref> the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Indian Statistical Association;<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |date=2019 |title=Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://www.intindstat.org/public/uploads/newsletters/IISAfa19-fall.pdf |journal=IISA Fall 2019 Newsletter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://www.intindstat.org/recipients |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112191710/https://www.intindstat.org/recipients |archive-date=2022-01-12 |access-date=2024-10-01 |publisher=[[International Indian Statistical Association]]}}</ref> the 2020 Mahatma Gandhi Medal of Honour from the NRI Institute;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mahatma Gandhi Medal of Honour |url=https://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/honours.html#MGM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103145713/https://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/honours.html |archive-date=2023-11-03 |access-date=23 December 2022 |publisher=University of Leeds, Kanti Mardia - Honours}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> and the 2021 OneJAIN Life Achievement Award from the Jain All-Party Parliamentary Group.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = OneJAIN Life Achievement Award
| publisher = University of Leeds, Staff Profile
| access-date = 23 December 2022
| url = https://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/
}}</ref> He is the founding Vice-President of International Indian Statistical Association, and a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the [[Institute of Mathematical Statistics]], and the Royal Statistical Society.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kanti Mardia in UK Honours List |url=https://imstat.org/2023/03/31/kanti-mardia-in-uk-honours-list/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=[[Institute of Mathematical Statistics]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=American Statistical Association Fellows |url=https://ww2.amstat.org/fellows/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=[[American Statistical Association]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mardia Prize |url=https://rss.org.uk/training-events/events/honours/mardia-prize/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=[[Royal Statistical Society]]}}</ref> The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology's 2020 Virtual Symposium on Directional Statistics was dedicated to Mardia.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-03-23 |title=2020 Virtual Symposium on Directional Statistics |url=https://isas.iar.kit.edu/de/1435.php |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Karlsruhe Institute of Technology |language=en}}</ref> He gave the 40th Fisher Memorial Lecture on 18 November 2022 at the Oxford Mathematical Institute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fisher Memorial Lecture |url=http://www.senns.uk/FisherWeb.html#FL40 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224035920/http://www.senns.uk/FisherWeb.html#FL40 |archive-date=2022-12-24 |access-date=23 December 2022 |publisher=Fisher Memorial Trust}}</ref> A [[festschrift]] honoring his work resulted in an edited volume, ''Geometry Driven Statistics''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

The inaugural Mardia Lecture Series was launched by the University of Leeds on 7 November 2024 in recognition of his contribution to statistical science, with the opening lecture delivered by [[Peter Green (statistician)|Prof. Peter Green FRS]] of the University of Bristol.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sciences |first=Faculty of Engineering and Physical |date=2024-11-07 |title=The Mardia Lecture: "Seeing patterns that aren't there – and other statistical problems in investigating medical misconduct" Professor Peter Green FRS |url=https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/maths/events/event/6401/the-mardia-lecture-seeing-patterns-that-aren-t-there-and-other-statistical-problems-in-investigating-medical-misconduct-professor-peter-green-frs |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=eps.leeds.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

Mardia's 90th birthday was celebrated at the 2025 edition of the triennial Adista conference on statistics, Mardia himself joining by video call to address the attendees and discuss the future of directional statistics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-10 |title=International Workshop on Advances in Directional Statistics (ADISTA) |url=https://www.uni.lu/fstm-en/events/international-workshop-on-advances-in-directional-statistics-adista/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=FSTM EN |language=en-GB}}</ref>

He is a practicing Jain and strict vegetarian.<ref name=":0" /> His 1990 book ''The Scientific Foundations of Jainism'' introduced the Four Noble Truths of Jains.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jain eLibrary: ''The Scientific Foundations of Jainism'' |url=https://jainelibrary.org/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Use "Mardia" in the search bar.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mardia |first=Kanti |date=2008 |title=Modern Science and the Four Noble Truths of Jains |url=http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/FourNobleTruths-2.pdf |journal=Young Jains International Newsletter |location=London, UK |volume=22 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401151811/http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/FourNobleTruths-2.pdf |archive-date=2011-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mardia |first=Kanti V. |title=Jainism in scientific terms |url=https://jainpedia.org/themes/principles/jain-beliefs/jainism-in-scientific-terms/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018023048/http://www.jainpedia.org/themes/principles/jain-beliefs/jainism-in-scientific-terms.html#c3386 |archive-date=18 October 2021 |access-date= |website=JAINpedia}}</ref> His subsequent book Destructive Emotions: Jain Perspectives, published in 2024 was awarded Best Book 2025 by the prestigious [https://isjs.in/ International School for Jain Studies]. In 1987 he founded the Yorkshire Jain Foundation.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Yorkshire Jain Foundation |url=http://www.yjf.org.uk/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003143611/http://www.yjf.org.uk/index.htm |archive-date=3 October 2011 |access-date=2024-10-14}}</ref>

Mardia was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2023 New Year Honours]] for services to statistical science.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63918|supp=y|page=N14|date=31 December 2022}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mukherjee |first=Arundhati |date=2023-01-16 |title=British Indian statistician conferred prestigious UK honour |url=https://www.iglobalnews.com/newsviews/british-indian-statistician-conferred-prestigious-uk-honour |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=iGlobal News |language=en}}</ref>

==Books==
*''Families of Bivariate Distributions'' (1970)
*''Multivariate Analysis'', coauthored with John T. Kent and John Bibby (1979)
*''Directional Statistics'', coauthored with Peter Jupp, (1999) (first published under the title ''Statistics of Directional Data,'' 1972)
*''Bayesian Methods in Structural Bioinformatics'', co-edited with Thomas Hamelryck and Jesper Ferkinghoff-Borg (2012)
*''Statistical Shape Analysis'', coauthored with [[Ian L. Dryden]] (2016) (first edition 1998)
*''Spatial Analysis'', coauthored with John T. Kent (2022)
*''Multivariate Analysis Second Edition'', coauthored with John T. Kent and Charles C. Taylor (2024)
*''The Scientific Foundations of Jainism'' (1990)
*''Living Jainism: An Ethical Science'', coauthored with Aidan Rankin (2013)
*''Destructive Emotions: Jain Perspectives'' (2024)

== Mardia Prize ==
The Mardia Prize, awarded by the Royal Statistical Society, was founded by Mardia in 2015 to foster collaboration between statisticians and scientists via "workshops in emerging interdisciplinary areas".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/3304-rss-fellow-to-support-cutting-edge-interdisciplinary-workshops |title=RSS fellow to support cutting edge interdisciplinary workshops | StatsLife |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819115928/https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/3304-rss-fellow-to-support-cutting-edge-interdisciplinary-workshops |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mardia Prize |url=https://rss.org.uk/training-events/events/honours/mardia-prize/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=Royal Society of Statistics}}</ref> The first award was given in 2016<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Mardia makes the presentation of the Mardia Prize to Dr Fiona Underwood at the annual Royal Statistical Society on 7 September 2016 |url=http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/MardiaPrize.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817144612/http://www1.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/MardiaPrize.html |archive-date=2017-08-17 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=maths.leeds.ac.uk}}</ref> (Topic: renewable natural resources management, food security, climate change and the illegal wildlife trade) with the second in 2018<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/3844-2018-mardia-prize-to-support-extreme-weather-research |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819115929/https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/3844-2018-mardia-prize-to-support-extreme-weather-research |archive-date=19 August 2019 |title=2018 Mardia Prize to support extreme weather research {{!}} StatsLife}}</ref> (Topic: [[extreme weather]] research) and the third in 2019<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/4214-2019-mardia-prize-to-support-workshops-on-economics-of-mental-health |title=2019 Mardia Prize to support workshops on economics of mental health | StatsLife |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819115926/https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/4214-2019-mardia-prize-to-support-workshops-on-economics-of-mental-health |url-status=dead }}</ref> (Topic: economics of mental health).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/maths/staff/4059/professor-kanti-mardia-obe University of Leeds Faculty Profile, Kanti Mardia] [https://web.archive.org/web/20241001004631/https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/maths/staff/4059/professor-kanti-mardia-obe Archived] 30 September 2024
*[http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/Statistics/workshop/leeds2000/bookstein-review.html Review of the LASR on the occasion of Mardias 65th Birthday] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502232621/http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/statistics/workshop/leeds2000/bookstein-review.html |date=2 May 2007 }} by [[Fred Bookstein]].
*[https://www.onejainuk.org/ Yorkshire Jain Foundation]
*[http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/Newsletter_Feb2009.pdf In Conversation with Prof. Kanti V. Mardia . . .] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727022018/http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~sta6kvm/Newsletter_Feb2009.pdf |date=27 July 2011 }} in Research Newsletter of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. February 2009.

{{Guy Medal}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardia, Kanti}}
[[Category:Directional statistics]]
[[Category:Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Rajasthan alumni]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Newcastle University]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Hull]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Statistical Association]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:People from Sirohi district]]
[[Category:British Jains]]
[[Category:Spatial statisticians]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century British statisticians]]
[[Category:Indian statisticians]]
[[Category:Ismail Yusuf College alumni]]

Kanti Mardia - Revision history

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