Hukum Chandra 1972 - 2021

Our friend and colleague Dr Hukum Chandra passed away on April 26, 2021, a victim of the resurge of Covid-19 in India. Hukum studied at the University of Delhi for a BSc in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and then for an MSc and MPhil in Statistics. He arrived in Southampton in 2004 as a Commonwealth scholar to study for a PhD on improved direct estimators for small areas under the supervision of Prof. Ray Chambers and Prof. James Brown. After completing his PhD in 2008, he embarked on a research career and was employed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, more recently as National Fellow and Principal Scientist. Hukum was the author of important papers in survey and official statistics and applications of statistics to demography, many co-authored with colleagues in Southampton and overseas. In 2009 Hukum was awarded the prestigious Cochran-Hansen prize by the International Association of Survey Statisticians. Hukum was a wonderful friend and colleague and a remarkable statistician with exceptional technical ability. It was a joy to work with him and he will be terribly missed.  Hukum is survived by his wife Shaily, daughter Amishi and son Naitik.