Keith Devlin
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Keith J. Devlin (born 16 March 1947) is a British mathematician and
popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
writer. Since 1987 he has lived in the United States. He has dual British-American citizenship.Curriculum vitae
Profkeithdevlin.com, accessed 3 February 2014.


Biography

He was born and grew up in England, in
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south- ...
. There he attended a local primary school followed by Greatfield High School in
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...
. In the last school year he was appointed head boy. Devlin earned a BSc (special) in mathematics at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
in 1968, and a PhD in mathematics at the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
in 1971 under the supervision of
Frederick Rowbottom Frederick Rowbottom (16 January 1938 – 12 October 2009) was a British logician and mathematician. The large cardinal notion of Rowbottom cardinals is named after him. Biography After graduating from Cambridge University, Rowbottom studied unde ...
.


Career

Later he got a position as a scientific assistant in mathematics at the
University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
, from August till December 1972. In 1974 he became a scientific assistant in mathematics at the
University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
, Germany. In 1976 he was an assistant professor of mathematics at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, Canada. From 1977 till 1987 he served as a lecturer, then reader, in mathematics at the
University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...
, England. From 1987 to 1989 he was a visiting professor of mathematics at Stanford University in California. From 1989 to 1993 he was the Carter Professor of Mathematics and Chair of Department at Colby College in Maine. From 1993 to 2000 he was Dean of Science and a professor of mathematics at St. Mary's College of California. From 2001 until he retired he was a senior researcher at Stanford University. He is co-founder and executive director of
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
's Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute (2006), a co-founder of Stanford Media X university-industry research partnership program, and a senior researcher in the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). He is a commentator on
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
's
Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...
Saturday, where he is known as "The Math Guy." His current research is mainly focused on the use of different media to teach mathematics to different audiences. He is also co-founder and president of the company BrainQuake, which creates mathematics learning video games, which he set up in 2011. Other topics of his research are the theory of information, models of reasoning, applications of mathematical techniques in the study of communication, and mathematical cognition. As of 2012 he had authored 34 books and over 80 research articles. Several of his books are aimed at a general audience.


Awards

* Joint Policy Board for Mathematics Communications Award, 2001 * In 2007 he received Wonderfest's Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization. * 2004 International Pythagoras Prize in Mathematics, in the category Best Expository Text in the Mathematical Sciences for the Italian translation of ''The Millennium Problems'' * Fellow of the
American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meeting ...
, 2012List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 10 November 2012.


Bibliography

;Articles * irst proof of Jensen's covering theorem; Keith J. Devlin is credited as Keith I. Devlin in the paper.] ;Books * * * * * * * * * * * * with coauthor Gary Lorden * * * *


References


External links

* including his curriculum vitae
Devlin's Angle
— column at 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, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Keith 1947 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of Bristol Set theorists Stanford University staff 20th-century British mathematicians 21st-century British mathematicians Mathematicians from Kingston upon Hull Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Mathematics popularizers