Timothy Trevor West (8 May 1938 – 30 October 2012) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

mathematician, academic and politician.

Biography

He was born on 8 May 1938 in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, the eldest of four sons of Timothy Roberts West, headmaster of

Midleton College Midleton College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. In past centuries it has also been called Midleton School. Although founded in 1696, the school did not open until 1717. It went thr ...

, and Dorothy Trevor West (née McNeill). He was educated at Midleton College, and

The High School, Dublin The High School is a 12–18 mixed, Church of Ireland, independent secondary school in Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland. It was established in 1870 at Harcourt Street before moving to Rathgar in 1971 and amalgamated with The Diocesan School for Girl ...

. West was a graduate of

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(TCD), where he was elected a scholar, and of 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 ...

. In 1970 he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and was also an associate professor of Mathematics, Junior Dean, and a great supporter of sport at Trinity. He was also a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. He subsequently was a Senior Fellow of TCD. On 19 November 1970, West was elected to

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

, at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

constituency caused by the death of

Owen Sheehy-Skeffington Owen Lancelot Sheehy-Skeffington (19 May 1909 – 7 June 1970) was an Irish university lecturer and senator. The son of pacifists, feminists and socialists Francis and Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, he was politically likeminded and as a member of t ...

. After his election, he established a reputation as one of the few liberal voices in the Seanad. He was re-elected to the Seanad in 1973 and 1977, lost his seat at the 1981 Seanad election but was re-elected in 1982, then lost his seat again at the 1983 Seanad election. With

John T. Lewis John Trevor Lewis (15 April 1932 – 21 January 2004) was a Welsh mathematical physicist who made contributions to areas including quantum measurement, Bose–Einstein condensation and large deviations theory. He was a senior professor at the ...

and D. McQuillan, West drew up the constitution of the

Irish Mathematical Society The Irish Mathematical Society ( ga, Cumann Matamaitice na hÉireann) or IMS is the main professional organisation for mathematicians in Ireland. The society aims to further mathematics and mathematical research in Ireland. Its membership is in ...

. He was the author of ''The Bold Collegians'', a history of sport in Trinity College, and was an avid follower of Trinity College's sports programs. He also wrote a history of Midleton College, published for its

tercentenary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

in 1996.

Memorials

An event was held in his memory at the Royal Irish Academy in December 2013 where a memorial issue of the Mathematical Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy was presented. A book of essays celebrating his life, ''Trevor West : The Bold Collegian'', was published in October 2016. On 14 September 2018, a new sports hall in Midleton College dedicated to the memory of Trevor West was opened by the Provost of Trinity College, Patrick Prendergast.

Publications

*Trevor West, with

Rien Kaashoek Marinus Adriaan "Rien" Kaashoek (born 10 November 1937) is a Dutch mathematician, and Emeritus Professor Analysis and Operator Theory at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Biography Born in Ridderkerk, Kaashoek has studied mathematics at the L ...

, ''Locally compact semi-algebras : with applications to spectral theory of positive operators'' (Amsterdam; London: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1974) *Trevor West, ''The Bold Collegians. The Development of Sport in Trinity College, Dublin'' (Dublin, 1991) *Trevor West, ''Midleton College, 1696–1996: A Tercentenary History'' (Midleton: Midleton College, 1996)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Trevor 1938 births 2012 deaths Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Independent members of Seanad Éireann 20th-century Irish mathematicians Members of the Royal Irish Academy Members of Seanad Éireann for Dublin University Members of the 12th Seanad Members of the 13th Seanad Members of the 14th Seanad Members of the 16th Seanad People educated at Midleton College People from County Cork Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Biography

Memorials

Publications

Further reading

References

External links