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Coventry University tutor who helps students worldwide becomes just third winner of prestigious award
Dr Alun Owen, head of Coventry University's Statistics Advisory Service
University news
Monday 21 July 2025
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A Coventry University tutor who has helped tens of thousands of students across the world has become just the third person to receive a prestigious award.
Dr Alun Owen is set to receive the John Blake University Teaching Medal 2025 from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) for his work in making the learning of statistics more inclusive and accessible to students in higher education at Coventry University, across the UK and internationally.
Dr Owen is the head of Coventry University’s Statistics Advisory Service and joined the institution in 2008 leading the development of statistics support at the university, before doing the same at Loughborough University.
Coventry and Loughborough were later jointly designated as a Centre for Excellence in University-wide Mathematics and Statistics Support, which became known as sigma, which has since remained the name of Coventry University’s mathematics and statistics support centre. Dr Owen, who returned to Coventry University in 2017, also developed and still leads the international virtual statistics learning support centre statstutor, which has facilitated free access to hundreds of statistics learning resources for tens of thousands of students across the world.
At Coventry University, anyone who needs help with anything related to maths and stats can talk to sigma’s tutors in the drop-in centre. In addition to providing students with 1-1 assistance, they have a wide range of free learning resources.
Following his National Teaching Fellowship in 2023, Dr Owen has been named the third recipient of the IMA medal awarded every two years in honour of the late Professor John Blake, renowned for championing teaching and learning in mathematical sciences in higher education.
I am delighted to be awarded the prestigious IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal. I came from a working-class background, being brought up in mining villages in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire where very few children were expected to attend university. This is why I am so passionate about making the learning of statistics accessible to all and ensure it is both fun and of value to the learner.
Dr Alun Owen, head of Coventry University's Statistics Advisory Service
In the citation for Dr Owen’s award, the IMA said: “Dr Owen has a passion for teaching, believing that the learning of statistics should be accessible to all students, irrespective of their level of ability, subject specialism or barriers to learning that they may face.
“He has made a significant impact on statistics learning in the UK higher education sector and beyond. The development of statistics support as a field of endeavour alongside the provision of large numbers of high-quality learning resources have impacted on the learning experiences and outcomes of tens of thousands of students. Dr Alun Owen is a worthy recipient of the IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal.”
Find out more about the sigma Maths and Statistics Support Centre at Coventry University.
