Triple Crown honour for Professor Jeff Griffiths

by Paul Harper

Jeff’s career and his many achievements have again been recognised, this time with the prestigious award of “Companion of OR” by the UK OR Society.  Jeff received his award from Ruth Kaufman OBE, President of the OR Society, at an awards ceremony held in Westminster Central Hall, London, November 17^th.

The Companion of OR is awarded for sustained support and encouragement for the development of Operational Research.  In turn, Jeff becomes only the third person in the entire history of the OR Society to have the “Triple Crown” – having been awarded the Companionship, the Beale medal (in recognition to a sustained contribution over many years to the theory, practice, and philosophy of OR in the UK) and having been President of the OR Society.  It is truly an amazing feat and a wonderful accolade for Jeff and OR at Cardiff.  Readers may also wish to note that the OR Society last year agreed to name the prize for the most outstanding contribution to the philosophy, theory or practice of health systems published in the society’s journal Health Systems (of which I am editor) as the “The Griffiths Medal”.

Congratulations to Jeff on the Triple Crown.  I know that he’ll also be delighted if the Welsh rugby team can emulate his success with a Triple Crown in the Six Nations next year (or indeed the grand slam!)