The Sadleirian Professorship of Pure Mathematics, originally spelled in the statutes and for the first two professors as Sadlerian, is a professorship in

pure mathematics Pure mathematics is the study of mathematical concepts independently of any application outside mathematics. These concepts may originate in real-world concerns, and the results obtained may later turn out to be useful for practical applications, ...

within the DPMMS at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. It was founded on a bequest from Lady Mary Sadleir for

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical infor ...

ships "for the full and clear explication and teaching that part of mathematical knowledge commonly called

algebra Algebra () is one of the broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathematics. Elementary ...

". She died in 1706 and lectures began in 1710 but eventually these failed to attract undergraduates. In 1860 the foundation was used to establish the professorship. On 10 June 1863 Arthur Cayley was elected with the statutory duty "to explain and teach the principles of pure mathematics, and to apply himself to the advancement of that science." The stipend attached to the professorship was modest although it improved in the course of subsequent legislation.

List of Sadlerian Lecturers of Pure Mathematics

*1746–1769 William Ludlam *1826–1835 Lawrence Stephenson

List of Sadleirian Lecturers of Pure Mathematics

*1845–1847 Arthur Scratchley *1847–1857 George Ferns Reyner *1851 Stephen Hanson *1855–1858 William Charles Green *1857–1864 John Robert Lunn

List of Sadleirian Professors of Pure Mathematics

*1863–1895

Arthur Cayley Arthur Cayley (; 16 August 1821 – 26 January 1895) was a prolific British mathematician who worked mostly on algebra. He helped found the modern British school of pure mathematics. As a child, Cayley enjoyed solving complex maths problem ...

*1895–1910

Andrew Russell Forsyth Andrew Russell Forsyth, FRS, FRSE (18 June 1858, Glasgow – 2 June 1942, South Kensington) was a British mathematician. Life Forsyth was born in Glasgow on 18 June 1858, the son of John Forsyth, a marine engineer, and his wife Christina ...

*1910–1931 E. W. Hobson *1931–1942 G. H. Hardy *1945–1953

Louis Mordell Louis Joel Mordell (28 January 1888 – 12 March 1972) was an American-born British mathematician, known for pioneering research in number theory. He was born in Philadelphia, United States, in a Jewish family of Lithuanian extraction. Educ ...

*1953–1967 Philip Hall *1967–1986 J. W. S. Cassels *1986–2012 John H. Coates *2013–2014

Vladimir Markovic Vladimir Marković is a Professor of Mathematics at University of Oxford. He was previously the John D. MacArthur Professor at the California Institute of Technology (2013–2020) and Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University ...

*2017– Emmanuel Breuillard

References

Sources

* Obituary Notices of Fellows Deceased. (1895). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 58, I-Lx. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/115800 (Obituary of Arthur Cayley written by Andrew Forsyth). * University of Cambridge DPMMS https://web.archive.org/web/20160624155328/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/academic/secretary/professorships/sadleirian.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Pure Mathematics, Sadleirian, Cambridge Pure Mathematics, Sadleirian Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge Pure Mathematics, Sadleirian, Cambridge Mathematics education in the United Kingdom