The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) has awarded a highly prestigious Honorary Fellowship to Northumbria University academic Professor Marion Oswald MBE.
Each year, the influential RSS awards honorary fellowships to a small and select group of outstanding individuals of great eminence working in fields related to statistics who are not necessarily or primarily members of the statistical profession. The lifetime award particularly recognises those whose work furthers the Society’s goals and values, like supporting public understanding and furthering interdisciplinarity in research.The RSS said Professor Marion Oswald's work on administrative law for automated systems used by public authorities, driven by her leadership and pragmatism, has been instrumental in integrating ethical principles into data science practice.
Professor Sir John Aston, RSS President, said of this year’s cohort of awardees, ‘Our 2025 honours recipients exemplify the wide-ranging positive impact statistics can have on improving research outcomes and on society. This year’s honorary fellows are exemplary supporters of the discipline, showcasing what can be achieved through collaboration. On behalf of the RSS, I am delighted to give my heartfelt congratulations to all this year’s recipients.’
A Professor of Law at Northumbria, Dr Oswald is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security (the Alan Turing Institute) and chairs the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee. Her research covers the interaction between law and digital technology, and has made
distinctive contributions in respect of privacy, fair decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI) and the way that data is acted upon by the public sector, focusing on policing and national security. In 2022 Professor Oswald received an MBE for services to digital innovation.
Professor Oswald is also a member of the Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group (BFEG) which provides independent ethical advice to the Home Office on matters related to biometric and forensic material, and on complex data sets and AI. She is the Principal Investigator of the 4-year PROBabLE Futures project (Probabilistic AI Systems in Law Enforcement Futures), a keystone project funded by Responsible AI UK.
Commenting on her award, Professor Oswald said: “I am honoured and humbled to receive this award from the RSS. The research and public service work I am involved in covers some challenging and sensitive issues around the use of data and emerging technologies in policing and national security that can have serious implications if used inaccurately or inappropriately but considerable benefits if used well. There are many people engaged in my area who are doing amazing work to support ethical and beneficial data science practice, and I’d like to acknowledge them, especially my collaboration with my PROBabLE Futures colleagues at Northumbria University and other institutions, the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security at the Alan Turing Institute, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, ACC Matt Welsted and all the members of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and West Midlands Police Data Ethics Committee. I would like to congratulate all the other recipients of honorary fellowships.”
Professor Michael Stockdale, Head of Law at Northumbria, added: “Receiving this award is well deserved recognition for Marion’s leading research and public service work in relation to the use of data and the impact of emerging technologies in policing, national security and the justice system. It also reflects the strength and growing reputation of Northumbria Law School in this field.”
