Using Statistics to Document Human Rights Violations

Statistics can be a force for good, but what does that look like in practice? For Patrick Ball, it means using statistical methods to document human rights violations, uncover patterns of violence hidden by incomplete data, and provide evidence for international war crimes tribunals… His findings have been presented as evidence in international tribunals against war criminals such as Serbian and Yugoslav politician Slobodan Milošević and the de facto president of Guatemala, General José Efraín Ríos Montt. An ASA Fellow, Ball was honored with the Nature Awards John Maddox Prize in 2024 and the Karl E. Peace Award in 2018. He earned his BA from Columbia University and his PhD from the University of Michigan.