My husband, John Bibby, who has died aged 80, made key contributions to the teaching of statistics in universities, particularly the early offerings at the Open University (OU), and to making mathematics education fun in schools.
Following a master’s in statistics at the London School of Economics, he began his academic career at St Andrews University (1970-74), before moving to the OU as a lecturer. For several years he chaired a groundbreaking OU course for non-specialists, Statistics in Society, promoting the social application of the subject, which ran for 30 years.
In 1975, John chaired the first meeting of the Radical Statistics Group (RSG), an independent campaigning network whose aim was to promote progressive social change. He became known for his inspirational posts to the RSG mailing list and was the organiser of its annual conferences. Despite worsening health, he delivered a 50th anniversary address in March.
Born in Lemsford, Hertfordshire, at a wartime maternity hospital, he spent his first years in north London, the second of four children of Frances (nee Hirst) and Cyril Bibby, who later became principal of the Hull College of Education.
John proudly embraced his parents’ legacy of atheistic, internationalist and progressive politics. He went to Queen Elizabeth’s school, Barnet, and then – after the family’s move north – to Kingston high school in Hull for sixth form, before studying mathematics and economics at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Long vacations allowed time to hitch-hike to Yugoslavia and India.
From 1966 to 1968, John taught maths in Ghana, which stimulated his great love for Africa. He conducted studies of cocoa smuggling and a pioneering social survey of African schoolchildren, before returning to the UK for postgraduate study at the LSE.
John and I met while we were both on holiday in Morocco in 1980 and married in 1986. We lived in Halifax, Edinburgh, and, for the past four happy decades, in York.
After leaving the OU in 1985, he became an independent statistical consultant, establishing a publishing company, QED Books, and developing his own materials for maths teachers including “FunMaths” calendars (with daily puzzles).
He also organised Maths FunFairs, which ran in York from 1995 to 2002. His vision that maths could be made exciting in surprising ways resulted in transporting a giant abacus by lorry, and taking his “Maths Bus” to those failed by the system. We travelled widely for pleasure and for QED business, often accompanied by our sons, Kevin and Matthew.
In York, John developed local historical studies, including on the early days of the statistician Karl Pearson, whose parents were from Yorkshire.
He was a man of quiet strength, with a generous heart, who supported other people. One of his last gestures was to offer his corneas to the NHS organ donor register.
John is survived by me, Kevin and Matthew, his brother, Peter, and his sister, Helen.
