Robert Sinclair MacKay (born 1956) is a British mathematician and professor at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. He researches

dynamical systems In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a Function (mathematics), function describes the time dependence of a Point (geometry), point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models ...

, the

calculus of variations The calculus of variations (or variational calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in Function (mathematics), functions and functional (mathematics), functionals, to find maxima and minima of f ...

, Hamiltonian dynamics and applications to complex systems in physics, engineering, chemistry, biology and economics.

Education

MacKay was educated at Newcastle High School, leaving in 1974. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree with first class honours in mathematics at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1977, and completed Part III of the

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

with distinction in 1978. He obtained his PhD in astrophysical sciences in 1982 from the Plasma Physics Laboratory at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

for research supervised by John M. Greene and

Martin David Kruskal Martin David Kruskal (; September 28, 1925 – December 26, 2006) was an American mathematician and physicist. He made fundamental contributions in many areas of mathematics and science, ranging from plasma physics to general relativity and ...

Career and research

Between 1982 and 1995, MacKay held

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

positions at Queen Mary College, London, the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, and the

. From 1995 to 2000 he was Professor of Nonlinear Dynamics in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Director of the Nonlinear Centre, and Fellow of Trinity College. In 2000 he returned to Warwick as Professor of Mathematics and Director of Mathematical Interdisciplinary Research.

Awards and honours

MacKay was awarded the Stefanos Pnevmatikos International Award in 1992. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2000. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: In 2012 he was elected President of the

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

Personal life

MacKay was born to Donald MacCrimmon MacKay and Valerie MacKay (née Wood) in 1956. His younger brother David J. C. MacKay FRS was the Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

References

Living people 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics People educated at Newcastle-under-Lyme School Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Cambridge Princeton University alumni 1956 births {{UK-mathematician-stub