The Regius Professorship of Mathematics is the name given to three
chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
s in mathematics at British universities, one at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, founded by
Charles II in 1668, the second one at the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
, founded in 2013 to commemorate the
Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...
and the third one at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, founded in 2016.
University of St Andrews (1668)
From 1997 to 2015 there was no Regius Professor of Mathematics. In April 2013 the post was advertised, and in 2015
Igor Rivin was appointed. He was succeeded by
Kenneth Falconer in 2017.
List of Regius Professors of Mathematics
The following list may be incomplete.
* 1668–1674
James Gregory
* 1674–1688 William Sanders
[J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (1996]
Mathematics in St Andrews to 1700
on the Website of the University of St Andrews; read 27. November 2015.
* 1689–1690 James Fenton
* 1690–1707 vacant
* 1707–1739 Charles Gregory
* 1739–1765 David Gregory
[J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (2010]
on the website of the University of St Andrews; read 27. November 2015.
* 1765–1807
Nicolas Vilant
* 1807–1809 vacant
[J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (2006]
Robert Haldane
MacTutor History of Mathematics; read 27. November 2015.
* 1809–1820
Robert Haldane
Robert Haldane (28 February 1764 – 12 December 1842) was a religious writer and Scottish theologian. Author of ''Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains, On the Inspiration of Scripture'' and ''Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.''
Early ...
* 1820–1858 Thomas Duncan
[Alex D. D. Craik (2008) ''Mr Hopkins' Men: Cambridge Reform and British Mathematics in the 19th Century''; Springer.]
* 1857–1858
John Couch Adams
John Couch Adams (; 5 June 1819 – 21 January 1892) was a British mathematician and astronomer. He was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge.
His most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position of ...
[J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (2005]
John Couch Adams
on the website of the University of St Andrews; read 27. November 2015.
* 1859–1877 William L F Fischer
* 1877–1879
George Chrystal
George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...
* 1879–1921
Peter Redford Scott Lang
Sir Peter Redford Scott Lang VD FRSE (1850–1926) was a Scottish mathematician and Regius Professor at the University of St Andrews. In the 1880s he instituted “Common Dinners” to bring the students together for joint meals (often referred ...
* 1921–1950
Herbert Westren Turnbull
Prof Herbert Westren Turnbull FRS FRSE LLD (31 August 1885 – 4 May 1961) was an English mathematician. From 1921 to 1950 he was Regius Professor of Mathematics at the University of St Andrews.
Life
He was born in the Tettenhall district, on ...
* 1950–1969
Edward Thomas Copson
Edward Thomas Copson FRSE (21 August 1901 – 16 February 1980) was a British mathematician who contributed widely to the development of mathematics at the University of St Andrews, serving as Regius Professor of Mathematics amongst other pos ...
* 1970–1997
John Mackintosh Howie
John Mackintosh Howie (23 May 1936 – 26 December 2011) was a Scottish mathematician and prominent semigroup theorist.
Biography
Howie was educated at Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, the University of Aberdeen and Balliol College, Oxfo ...
* 1997–2015 vacant
* 2015–2017
Igor Rivin
*2017–present
Kenneth Falconer
University of Warwick (2013)
The creation of the post of the Regius Professor of Mathematics was announced in January 2013,
in March 2014
Martin Hairer
Sir Martin Hairer (born 14 November 1975) is an Austrian-British mathematician working in the field of stochastic analysis, in particular stochastic partial differential equations. He is Professor of Mathematics at EPFL (École Polytechnique F ...
was appointed to the position.
University of Oxford (2016)
The creation of the post of the Regius Professor of Mathematics was announced in June 2016
and
Andrew Wiles
Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specializing in number theory. He is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem, for which he was awar ...
was appointed as the first holder of the chair in May 2018.
In August 2020, it was announced that the Regius Professorship in Mathematics at the University of Oxford will become a permanent fixture at
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Mathematics education in the United Kingdom
Mathematics Regius Professor
Professorships at the University of Oxford
Professorships in mathematics