Date of Birth: 23 May 1936
Education: Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen
1948-54
(Modern Dux 1954).
University of Aberdeen 1954-58 (M.A. (1958) with First Class Honours in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; Simpson Prize and Rennet Gold Medal in Mathematics; Lyon Prize for the most distinguished graduate in Arts).
University of Oxford (Balliol College) 1959-61 (D.Phil (1961) for a Thesis entitled Some problems in the theory of semigroups).
University of Aberdeen: D.Sc. (1970) for a Thesis entitled Contributions to the algebraic theory of semigroups.
Career
| Assistant in Mathematics, University of Aberdeen | 1958-59 |
| Assistant in Mathematics, University of Glasgow | 1961-63 |
| Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Glasgow | 1963-67 |
| Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Stirling | 1967-70 |
| Regius Professor of Mathematics, University of St Andrews | 1970-97 |
| Emeritus Professor | 1997- |
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1971
Keith Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1979-81
C.B.E. for services to education' 1993
D.Univ. honoris causa (Open University) 2000
Chairman of Pure Mathematics 1970-81; 1986-87
Dean of the Faculty of Science 1976-79
Research visits abroad
| Pennsylvania State University | 6 weeks in 1963 |
| Tulane University | 10 months in 1964-65 |
| University of Western Australia | 3 months in 1968 |
| S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo | 2 months in 1969 |
| S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo | 2 months in 1970 |
| Monash University | 3 months in 1979 |
| California, New Zealand, Australia | 2 months in 1986 |
| Northern Illinois University | 4 months in 1988 |
| Universidade Nova de Lisboa | 1 month in 1989 |
| University of Lisbon | 3 weeks in 1990 |
| Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth) | 1 month in 1990 |
| University of Lisbon | 2 weeks in 1993 |
| University of Tasmania | 2 months in 1994 |
| University of the Azores | 2 weeks in 1994 |
| University of Lisbon | 10 days in 1995 |
| Universidade Nova de Lisboa | 10 days in 1995 |
| University of the Azores | 10 days in 1995 |
| Lisbon, Azores | 3 months in 1996 |
| Milan, Florence | 3 weeks in 2001 |
| Adana, Turkey | 2 weeks in 2004 |
Invited lectures since 1980
Szeged (Hungary), Oberwolfach (West Germany), Lisbon, Buffalo
(N.Y.), Syracuse (N.Y.),
University of Massachusetts, Coimbra (Portugal), Braga (Portugal),
American Mathematical
Society (Louisville), University of Louisville, University of Kentucky,
Marquette University
(Milwaukee), Northern Illinois University (DeKalb), Greifswald (East
Germany), Paris, Liège,
Siena, Chico (California), Australian Mathematical Society (Perth), New
Zealand
Mathematical Society (Christchurch), Auckland, Monash University
(Melbourne),
Deakin University (Geelong), University of Tasmania, University of Western
Australia,
Brno (Czechoslovakia), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Lincoln (Nebraska), London
(Ontario),
University of Sydney, Univerity of Porto, Hong Kong, Chulalongkorn
University of Bangkok, British Mathematical Colloquium (Glasgow),
Luino (Italy), Kyoto, Matsue (Japan), New Orleans, Braunschweig,
Clausthal,
Freiberg, Kunming (China), Prague, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Otago
University (New Zealand), Warsaw, Wroclaw, Milan, Florence, Adana
(Turkey), Ekaterinburg (Russia).
External Examinerships
(in succession since 1970)
Heriot-Watt
Edinburgh
York
Glasgow
National University of Ireland
Queen's University, Belfast.
Also PhD examinations in UK and abroad, and (in 1980) an examination for an Agregeerde in Ghent.
Editorial and related activities
Editor of Semigroup Forum (Springer, New York) 1976-1998; Executive Editor 1990-94; Council 1994-1998. Honorary Editor 1999-
Editorial adviser for Proceedings A of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1988-91, 1997-2000
Editor of Communications in Algebra 1994-99.
Editorial Board, Portugaliae Mathematica since 1989.
Reviewer for Mathematical Reviews 1976-1996.
Ph.D. Students, with dates
| Robert J. H. Dawlings (1977-80) | Semigroups of singular endomorphisms of vector spaces |
| Gracinda M. S. Gomes (1980-83) | Aspects of order and congruence relations on regular semigroups |
| M. Paula O. Marques (1980-83) | Infinite transformation semigroups |
| James H. Renshaw (1982-85) | Flatness, extension and amalgamation in monoids, semigroups and rings |
| B. James Saunders (1985-88) | Semigroups with length morphisms |
| Helena M. E. Sezinando (1987-90) | Formal languages and idempotent semigroups |
| Goje U. Garba (1989-92 ) | Idempotents, nilpotents, rank and order in monoids, semigroup and rings |
| Abdullahi Umar (1989-92) | Semigroups of order-decreasing transformations |
| Nikola Ruskuc (1992-95) | Semigroup presentations |
| Samuel J. L. Kopamu (1993-96) | On a family of semigroup congruences |
Also
| Emilia Joaquina Giraldes Soares (1984) | Universidade de Lisboa | Semigrupos de característica superior |
| Maria Isabel Marques Ribeiro (2000) | Universidade dos Açores | Características em semigrupos |
M.Sc. Students, with dates of completion
| E. Mary Snowden (1979) | Square roots in full transformation semigroups |
| John E. Jones (1988). | Minimal embeddings in inverse semigroups |
Public Service
Mathematics Panel, Scottish Examination Board 1967-73; Convener from 1970
Chairman, Scottish Central Committee for Mathematics 1975-81
President, Edinburgh Mathematical Society 1973-74
London Mathematical Society :
Member of Dunning Committee 1975-77
Chairman of Governors, Dundee College of Education 1983-87
Governor, Northern College of Education 1987-2001
Chairman, Scottish Mathematical Council 1987 -93
Chairman, Committee to review fifth and sixth years (Howie Committee) 1990-92
Council, Royal Society of Edinburgh 1992-1995
Chairman, Steering Committee, International Centre for Mathematical Sciences 1991-97.
Curator, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2006--
Recreations
Music (organ and voice); gardening; Scottish country dancing.
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