John Anthony Adam is a British-American applied mathematician known for his work on

patterns in nature Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, wave ...

and on mathematical modeling of the growth patterns of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

s. He is University Professor of Mathematics at

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Education and career

Adam is a 1971 graduate, with first-class honours, from

Queen Elizabeth College Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) was a college in London. It had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College, London, opened in 1885 but which later accepted men as well. The first King's 'extension' lectures for ladi ...

. He completed his Ph.D. in 1974 at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. His dissertation, ''A Theoretical Study of Magnetohydrodynamic Processes in Solar Active Regions'', was jointly supervised by astrochemist Gillian Peach and astrophysicist

Carole Jordan Dame Carole Jordan, (born 19 July 1941), is a British physicist, astrophysicist, astronomer and academic. Currently, she is Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford. From ...

. After working as a researcher in theoretical astronomy and applied mathematics, respectively at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

and

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, he became a lecturer in mathematics at the

New University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially a ...

in 1978, while also taking a research affiliation at the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

. In 1983 he came to the US as a

Fulbright scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

, and in 1984 he moved to Old Dominion University. He was named University Professor there in 1999.

Book

Adam is the author of books including: *''A Survey of Models for Tumor-Immune System Dynamics'' (edited with Nicola Bellomo, Springer, 1997) *''Mathematics in Nature: Modeling Patterns in the Natural World'' (Princeton University Press, 2003) *''Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin'' (with Lawrence Weinstein, Princeton University Press, 2008) *''A Mathematical Nature Walk'' (Princeton University Press, 2009) *''X and the City: Modeling Aspects of Urban Life'' (Princeton University Press, 2012) *''Rays, Waves, and Scattering: Topics in Classical Mathematical Physics'' (Princeton University Press, 2017)

Recognition

In 2007, the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) gave Adam their Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2012, Adam won the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award of the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

for an exposition of blood vessel modeling.

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, John A. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British mathematicians 20th-century American mathematicians Alumni of Queen Elizabeth College Alumni of University College London Academics of Ulster University Old Dominion University faculty Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 21st-century American mathematicians