Gavin Brown AO FAA CorrFRSE (27 February 1942 – 25 December 2010) was a Scottish-born mathematician and long-serving Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

between 1996 and 2008.

Early career

After attending secondary school at

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

, Brown graduated with a Master of Arts degree (1st Class Honours and the Duncan Medal) from 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 ...

(1963), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

(1966). His academic career began at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, where he became a senior lecturer in mathematics. Brown accepted the Chair of Pure Mathematics at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

in 1975 and he and his family emigrated to Australia. At the

, Brown held a number of academic administrative posts, including Head of the Department of

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, ...

, Head of the School of Mathematics, and Dean of the Faculty of Science. During this time, he was awarded the

Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize The ''Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize'' is awarded every four years by the Edinburgh Mathematical Society to an outstanding young mathematician having a specified connection with Scotland. It is named after Sir Edmund Whittaker. History After ...

and the

Australian Mathematical Society Medal The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the Society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing t ...

Later career

In 1992, Brown became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. Later, in 1994, he became the Vice-Chancellor. He took up the position of Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sydney in 1996 and retired from the post in 2008. Brown was actively involved in the work of the Australian Research Council as a chairman of various funding committees from 1988 to 1993, and a member of the Council from 1992 to 1993. He wrote more than 100 research papers and served on the board of several international journals. His research areas were broad, including

harmonic analysis Harmonic analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the representation of functions or signals as the superposition of basic waves, and the study of and generalization of the notions of Fourier series and Fourier transforms (i.e. an ex ...

measure theory In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures (length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as mass and probability of events. These seemingly distinct concepts have many simila ...

and

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of St Andrews (1997) and an honorary Doctor of Laws by the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

(2004). In 2006, he was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

Personal life

Brown returned to Adelaide after retiring in 2008. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on Christmas Day in 2010.

References

External links

Brown's bio at the University of Sydney
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Gavin 1942 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Newcastle University Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Officers of the Order of Australia Scottish emigrants to Australia Academics of the University of Liverpool Vice-Chancellors of the University of Sydney People educated at Madras College Vice-Chancellors of the University of Adelaide 20th-century Australian mathematicians 21st-century Australian mathematicians Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize winners