Lucasian Professor of Mathematics


The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics is a mathematics professorship in the University of Cambridge, England; its holder is known as the Lucasian Professor. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge University's Member of Parliament in 1639-1640, and it was officially established by King Charles II on 18 January 1664. It was described by The Daily Telegraph as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world and its former holders include Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, George Stokes, Joseph Larmor, Paul Dirac and Stephen Hawking.

History

Lucas, in his will, bequeathed his library of 4,000 volumes to the university and left instructions for the purchase of land whose yielding should provide £100 a year for the founding of a professorship.
The current and 19th Lucasian Professor is Michael Cates, starting from 1 July 2015.
The previous holder of the post was theoretical physicist Michael Green who was a fellow in Clare Hall. He was appointed in October 2009, succeeding Stephen Hawking, who himself retired in September 2009, in the year of his 67th birthday, as required by the university. Green holds the position of Emeritus Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.

List of Lucasian professors

#Year of appointmentPortraitNameSpecialityTenure
11663Isaac Barrow
Classics and mathematics6
21669Isaac Newton
Mathematics and physics33
31702William Whiston
Mathematics9
41711Nicholas Saunderson
Mathematics28
51739John Colson
Mathematics21
61760Edward Waring
Mathematics38
71798Isaac Milner
Mathematics and chemistry22
81820Robert Woodhouse
Mathematics2
91822Thomas Turton
Mathematics4
101826George Biddell Airy
Astronomy2
111828Charles Babbage
Mathematics and computing11
121839Joshua King
Mathematics10
131849George Gabriel Stokes
Physics and fluid mechanics54
141903Joseph Larmor
Physics29
151932Paul Dirac
Physics37
161969James Lighthill
Fluid mechanics10
171979Stephen Hawking
Theoretical physics and cosmology30
182009Michael Green
String theory6
192015Michael Cates
Statistical mechanics of soft condensed mattercurrent

Cultural references

In the All Good Things... |final episode of the science-fiction television series , one of the main characters, the android Data, holds the Lucasian Chair in the late 24th century.