Michael Richard Edward Proctor, FRS, FIMA,

FRAS FRAS may refer to: * Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger ...

(born 19 September 1950) is a British physicist, mathematician, and academic. He is Professor of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

and, since his election in 2013, the Provost of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

Early life

Proctor was born on 19 September 1950. The son of a farmer, he grew up in

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is ...

. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

and won a scholarship to study mathematics at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and

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at the college in 1968. He achieved a distinction in the final part of the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...

and graduated in 1972 with a

Master of Mathematics A Master of Mathematics (or MMath) degree is a specific advanced integrated Master's degree for courses in the field of mathematics. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, the MMath is the internationally recognized standard qualification after a f ...

(MMath) degree. He remained at the

to undertake

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

under the supervision of H. K. Moffatt. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1975.

Academic career

In 1974, Proctor was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. From 1975 to 1977, he was a postdoctoral researcher and assistant professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. He returned to the

in 1977 as an

assistant lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the

Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. In the same year he was appointed a college lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

at Trinity from 1979 to 1991, and from 1992 to 1994. At university level, he was promoted to lecturer in 1982. He was promoted to

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in 1994. In the same year, he was elected

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Trinity College. In 2000, he was appointed Professor of Astrophysical Fluid dynamics. He was elected Vice-Master of Trinity College in 2006. In 2012, he was elected Provost of

. He moved from Trinity to King's to take up the position at the start of the 2013 academic year.

Honours

In 1977, Proctor was elected

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

(FRAS). He was awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(ScD) degree by the University of Cambridge in 1995. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(FRS) in 2006, and as a

Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(FIMA) in 2007.

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 11 September 2018 (video)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proctor, Michael 1950 births British physicists Cambridge mathematicians Provosts of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Living people New Naturalist writers