A way with words and numbers

Statistician and award-winning blogger Graeme Archer (BSc 1990, PhD 1994) talks about his love of literature and statistics.

‌Graeme Archer, BSc 1990, PhD 1994
Current position: Director of clinical statistics with GlaxoSmithKline and Telegraph political columnist

Learning how to work as a self-directed investigator through his time at university has pushed Graeme Archer in directions he never would have imagined.

As director of clinical statistics for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Alternative Discovery & Development group, Graeme leads groundbreaking research and development in drugs for ophthalmology, rare diseases and the emerging markets. In his spare time, he turns the analytical skills honed during his PhD in statistical inference to writing an acclaimed political column for the Telegraph.

Graeme enjoyed university life all the more during his second degree, and by the time he handed in his thesis, he was set on staying on at Glasgow. But the research post that had Graeme’s name on it turned out to be in Italy. Following five years at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Graeme returned to the UK to join GSK in 1998.

Statistics isn’t Graeme’s only passion. During his time at the University, he found refuge in the English literature section of the library, and specifically in Iris Murdoch’s novels. He was also a member of the Glasgow University Young Conservatives and remains as committed to the party today.

Graeme talks fondly of his time at Glasgow: ‘The left and right sides of my brain were brought to maturity by the daily run of the place – both the academic side and the culture of it all.’

From an interview in Avenue 56 (June 2014)

Supporting student employability

Graeme has given a little of his time through the , a global community that supports the future employability of our students. You can too, find out how.

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