John Kingman

Sir John Kingman
Born	John Frank Charles Kingman 28 August 1939 Beckenham, Kent
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Fields	Mathematics
Institutions	University of Sussex (1965–69) University of Oxford (1969–85) SERC (1981–85) University of Bristol (1985–2001) University of Cambridge (2001–06)
Alma mater	Pembroke College, University of Cambridge (BA, 1960)
Doctoral advisor	Peter Whittle and David Kendall (PhD not completed)
Doctoral students	Peter Gavin Hall Wilfrid S. Kendall
Known for	Coalescent theory Kingman's formula
Notable awards	FRS (1971)[1] Smith's Prize (1962) Berwick Prize (1967) Guy Medal (Silver, 1981) (Gold, 2013) Royal Medal (1983) Knight Bachelor (1985)
Spouse	Valerie Cromwell (m. 1964)
Children	John Oliver Frank Kingman

Sir John Frank Charles Kingman, FRS^[1] (born 28 August 1939)^[2] is a British mathematician.^[3][4]

He was N. M. Rothschild and Sons Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge from 2001 until 2006,^[2][5] when he was succeeded by Sir David Wallace. He is famous for developing the mathematics of the coalescent, a theoretical model of inheritance, which is fundamental to modern population genetics.

Biography

The grandson of a coal miner and son of a government scientist with a PhD in chemistry, Kingman was born in Beckenham, Kent and grew up in the outskirts of London, where he attended Christ's College, Finchley, which was then a state grammar school. He was awarded a scholarship to read mathematics at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1956.^[2][6] On graduating in 1960, he began work on his PhD under the supervision of Peter Whittle, studying queueing theory, Markov chains and regenerative phenomena. A year later, Whittle left Cambridge for the University of Manchester, and, rather than follow him there, Kingman moved instead to Oxford where he resumed his work under David Kendall. After another year, Kendall was appointed to a professorship at Cambridge and so Kingman returned to the University. He returned, however, as a member of the teaching staff (and a Fellow of Pembroke College) and never completed his PhD.^[6]

He married Valerie Cromwell in 1964.^[2] They have two children, including John Oliver Frank Kingman. In 1965, he took up the post of Reader at the University of Sussex where she was teaching, and was elected Professor of Mathematics and Statistics the next year.^[2][5][6] He held this post until 1969, when he moved to Oxford as Professor of Mathematics, a position he held until 1985.^[2][5][6] He has said of this appointment:

Statistics in Oxford in 1969 was frankly a mess. There was no professor of statistics, the only chair having been abolished some years before...[Maurice Bartlett and] I conspired to persuade Oxford to take statistics seriously.^[6]

The London Mathematical Society awarded Kingman its Berwick Prize in 1967^[7] In 1971, Kingman was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1971,^[1][8] later receiving its Royal Medal in 1983 "[i]n recognition of his distinguished researches on queuing theory, on regenerative phenomena, and on mathematical genetics".^[9] He was also awarded the Guy Medal in silver by the Royal Statistical Society in 1981.^[2] During his time at Oxford, as well as holding a Fellowship at St Anne's College from 1978 to 1985, Kingman also chaired the Science and Engineering Research Council (now the EPSRC) from 1981 to 1985,^[2][5] was vice-president of the Institute of Statisticians from 1978 until 1992 and held visiting appointments at the University of Western Australia (1974) and the Australian National University (1978).^[2]

In 1985, Kingman was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his work with the Science and Engineering Research Council.^[2][5] From October that year, Sir John was elected Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol.^[2][5] He remained in Bristol until 2001 when he took up his post at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge.^[5] Shortly after making that move, Kingman drew some media attention for having the third-highest salary among British Vice-Chancellors and this having nearly doubled in his final year in the job,^[10] at a time when most academics received pay-rises of about 3%. Whilst at Bristol, he also served in a number of other capacities. In the academic field, he was president of the Royal Statistical Society from 1987 to 1989,^[11] and president of the London Mathematical Society from 1990 to 1992.^[12] In public service, he was a member of the board of the British Council between 1986 and 1991 and was on the Board of the British Technology Group from 1986 until after it was privatised in 1992.^[2][5] He also held directorships at a number of industrial companies, including IBM from 1985 to 1995 and SmithKline Beecham from 1986 to 1989.^[2][5] In 1987/88, Kingman chaired the Committee of Inquiry into the teaching of the English language.^[13] In 2000, the Chancellor of the Exchequer appointed Sir John the first chairman of the Statistics Commission,^[14] the body that oversees the work of the Office for National Statistics, the UK government's statistics agency. In 2002, Kingman attracted some media attention ^[15][16] by telling the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee that the 2011 UK Census could be conducted using new technology rather than the traditional headcount, or even not conducted at all.^[17]

Kingman holds honorary degrees from the universities of Sussex, Southampton, Bristol, the West of England, and Queen's, Ontario.^[2]

References

1. "Sir John Kingman FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17.
2. "John Frank Charles Kingman". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. University of St Andrews. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
3. John Kingman at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
4. Kingman's page at the Isaac Newton Institute
5. "Sir John Kingman, FRS". Isaac Newton Institute. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
6. "Interview with Sir John Kingman" (PDF). Newsletter No. 43. European Mathematical Society. March 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
7. "LMS Prizes: Berwick Prize". London Mathematical Society. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
8. "Fellows". The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
9. "Royal Medal: Royal archive winners 1989 – 1950". The Royal Society. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
10. "University chiefs get 9.3% pay rise". BBC News. 8 February 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
11. "The List of Past Presidents". Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
12. "Presidents of the London Mathematical Society". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. University of St Andrews. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
13. Kingman, J. F. C.; Department of Education and Science (1988). Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of English Language. The Stationery Office Books: London. ISBN 0-11-270650-9.
14. "Chairman of the Statistics Commission appointed" (Press release). HM Treasury. 29 March 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
15. "Days numbered for census?". BBC News. 19 February 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
16. "Census 'should be reviewed'". BBC News. 6 March 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
17. "Select Committee on Treasury: Minutes of Evidence". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 21 November 2001. Retrieved 19 November 2010.

Bibliography

• Kingman, J. F. C. and Taylor, S. J. (1966). Introduction to Measure and Probability. Cambridge University Press.
• Kingman, J. F. C. (1966). On the Algebra of Queues. Methuen. ASIN B0007ILKPE.
• Kingman, J. F. C. (1972). Regenerative Phenomena. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. ISBN 0-471-47905-5.
• Kingman, J. F. C. (1980). Mathematics of Genetic Diversity. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. ISBN 0-89871-166-5.
• Kingman, J. F. C. (1993). Poisson Processes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-853693-3.