Tuesday, 20 May 2025
John King, Professor of Theoretical Mechanics in the University of Nottingham’s School of Mathematical Sciences, has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
Professor King joins 90 researchers from across the world who have been announced as Fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
As a Fellow of the Royal Society, Professor King joins the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Dorothy Hodgkin.
It is a great honour to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. My research has benefitted immeasurably from collaborations with colleagues and friends both within mathematics and from other disciplines, and I am delighted that it has been recognised in this way.”
Professor John King has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society
Professor King is an applied mathematician with broad research interests both in the development of novel mathematical methodologies and in their application to multiscale problems in the biosciences, engineering, industry and medicine. He has made significant contributions to asymptotic (notably exponential-asymptotic) and symmetry methods and through wide-ranging studies of free-boundary problems and nonlinear-parabolic systems. Prominent applications include the development of new modelling approaches to tumour growth, to thin-film flows and to bacterial quorum sensing.
He actively promotes multidisciplinary research endeavours, including recently in the plant sciences and in synthetic biology. He has been based for almost his entire career in the Department of Theoretical Mechanics and the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham. He has been awarded a Whitehead Prize and the Naylor Prize and Lectureship by the London Mathematical Society and the Julian Cole Lectureship by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). He is also a SIAM Fellow.
Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said: “It is with great pleasure that I welcome the latest cohort of outstanding researchers into the Fellowship of the Royal Society.
“Their achievements represent the very best of scientific endeavour, from basic discovery to research with real-world impact across health, technology and policy. From tackling global health challenges to reimagining what AI can do for humanity, their work is a testament to the power of curiosity-driven research and innovation.
“The strength of the Fellowship lies not only in individual excellence, but in the diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences each new member brings. This cohort represents the truly global nature of modern science and the importance of collaboration in driving scientific breakthroughs.”
Professor King joined the University of Nottingham in 1988 as Lecturer in Theoretical Mechanics and was appointed Professor of Theoretical Mechanics in 1994. He actively promotes multidisciplinary collaboration, including leading the mathematical components of major University of Nottingham research programmes in regenerative medicine, plant systems biology and synthetic biology. He is the co-founder of the Centre for Mathematical Medicine and Biology and Mathematics-in-Medicine and Mathematics-in-the-Plant-Sciences Study Groups.
I've benefitted both from the complementary mathematical expertise within the School of Mathematical Sciences, and from an environment that has traditionally been unusually supportive of work across disciplines.”
Professor King has been awarded a Whitehead Prize and the Naylor Prize and Lectureship by the London Mathematical Society and the Julian Cole Lectureship by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). He is also a SIAM Fellow.
Professor Paul Houston, Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham, said: “John has been a member of staff at the School of Mathematical Sciences (and formerly of the Department of Theoretical Mechanics) for almost 37 years. He has made seminal contributions to applied mathematics, most notably in the development of asymptotic and similarity methods.
"He has championed multidisciplinary collaboration widely, across the university and beyond, having responsibility for the university's participation in EU and European Science Foundation (ESF) programmes on nonlinear partial differential equations, complex analysis and the Virtual Physiological Human.”
“We are delighted to see his achievements recognised with the richly deserved honour of appointment as Fellow of the Royal Society.”
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More information is available from Professor John King on john.king@nottingham.ac.uk
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 24 in Europe and 15th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
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We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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