Florence Nightingale was a celebrated nurse who served the British Army during the Crimean War.  Her ground-breaking use of data visualisation turned a spotlight on the terrible hospital sanitation, and brought the issue to the attention of the British establishment.  She went on to epidemiological work in India, statistically proving the importance of sanitation to health.  Her work is a testament both to the power of Statistics to change the world, and the broad range of backgrounds from which the contributors to the discipline are drawn.

The Florence Nightingale Annual Lecture aims to celebrate that diversity by inviting a distinguished speaker to lecture on a statistical topic of their choice, one which can inspire the current generation as Nightingale herself did.