Ruth Sarah Farwell retired as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of

Buckinghamshire New University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = 2007 – gained university status 1891 – Science and Art School , type = Public , staff = , chancellor = Jay Blades , vice_chancellor = Nick Braisby , st ...

in February 2015. Farwell held a research fellowship in theoretical physics at

Imperial College, London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, in the early eighties. Her research is at the boundary between applied mathematics and theoretical physics. Her use of

Clifford algebra In mathematics, a Clifford algebra is an algebra generated by a vector space with a quadratic form, and is a unital associative algebra. As -algebras, they generalize the real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions and several other hyperc ...

s in her mathematics generated her interest in the Victorian mathematician

William Kingdon Clifford William Kingdon Clifford (4 May 18453 March 1879) was an English mathematician and philosopher. Building on the work of Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra, a special case of the Clifford algebra named in his ...

. She continues to research the mathematical contribution of Clifford, and

mathematical model A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used in the natural sciences (such as physics, ...

s of

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

, as well as undertaking research on

higher education policy Higher education policy refers to education policy for higher education institutions such as universities, specifically how they are organised, funded, and operated in a society. According to Ansell (2006) there are "three different institutional f ...

. Farwell actively promotes closer collaborative efforts between universities. The

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, from which she received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, awarded her an honorary degree in 2010. Farwell is the chair of higher education representative body

GuildHE GuildHE represents 57 higher education institutions in the UK, including universities, university colleges, further education colleges and specialist institutions. Member institutions include some major providers in professional subject areas ...

, chair of the Board of Trustees of the

Open College Network The National Open College Network (NOCN), formerly known as the Open College Network (OCN), is a United Kingdom organisation developed to recognise informal learning achieved by adults. History The first organisation of this type was created in ...

, South East Region, and a board member of the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

(HEFCE), and the

Universities and Colleges Employers Association The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA) is the employers' association for universities and colleges of higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom. It represents universities and HE colleges in national negotiations with the f ...

. She serves on a number of committees including HEFCE's Teaching, Quality and the Student Experience Committee, the Quality in Higher Education Group, and

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

’s Student Experience Policy Committee and Health and Social Care Policy Committee. She is a member of the

London Mathematical Society The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical S ...

and the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

. She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to higher education, appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire in 2015 and

High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire The High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. High Sheriff, Sheriff is the olde ...

for 2018–19.

Selected publications

*''Gauge Transformations'' (1999) *''The End of the Absolute'' (1990) *''Unified Spin Gauge Theory'' (1989) *''One-Dimensional Teda Molecule'' (1983) *''Derivation and Solution of the Two-Dimensional Toda Equation'' (1982) *''Kac-Van Moerbeke Equations'' (1982)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farwell, Ruth Living people British women academics Alumni of the University of Kent People associated with Buckinghamshire New University Academics of Buckinghamshire New University Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)