Keith_Moffatt

Keith Moffatt

British mathematician and physicist

This article is about the mathematician. For the American high jumper, see Keith Moffatt (athlete). For the University of Chicago biophysicist, see John Keith Moffat. For the American football player/physician, see Henry Moffat. For other uses, see Moffat (surname).

Not to be confused with Keith Moffitt.

Henry Keith Moffatt, FRS FRSE (born 12 April 1935) is a British mathematician with research interests in the field of fluid dynamics, particularly magnetohydrodynamics and the theory of turbulence. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge from 1980 to 2002.

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Quick Facts Born, Other names ...

Keith Moffatt
Born	(1935-04-12) 12 April 1935 (age 89) Edinburgh, Scotland
Other names	Henry Keith Moffatt
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh University of Cambridge
Known for	Moffatt eddies Non-axisymmetric Burgers vortices
Awards	Smith's Prize (1960) Senior Whitehead Prize (2005) Hughes Medal (2005) Fellow of the Royal Society (1986)
Scientific career
Fields	magnetohydrodynamics
Institutions	University of Cambridge
Thesis	Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence (1962)
Doctoral advisor	George Batchelor
Doctoral students	Michael Proctor Renzo Ricca Andrew Soward

Early life and education

Moffatt was born on 12 April 1935 to Emmeline Marchant and Frederick Henry Moffatt.^[1] He was schooled at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, going on to study Mathematical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1957. He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics and, 1959, he was a Wrangler. In 1960, he was awarded a Smith's Prize while preparing his PhD. He received his PhD in 1962, the title of his dissertation was Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence.

Career

After completing his PhD, Moffatt joined the staff of the Mathematics Faculty in Cambridge as an Assistant Lecturer^[1] and became a Fellow of Trinity College. He was appointed a lecturer in 1964, and held the office of Tutor, then Senior Tutor, at Trinity between 1970 and 1976.

In 1977 he was appointed to the Chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bristol.^[1] He held this position until 1980 when he returned to Cambridge to take up the Chair in Mathematical Physics, renewing his Fellowship of Trinity College. In 2002 he was made an Emeritus Professor of the University (he remains a Fellow of Trinity).

In the early 2000s he published papers on the theory of Euler's Disk.

Moffatt has published more than 200 papers.

Appointments

DAMTP, University of Cambridge: Assistant Lecturer, 1961–1964; Lecturer, 1964–1976
Trinity College, Cambridge: Fellow, 1961–76; Tutor, 1970–1974; Senior Tutor, 1975–1976
Bristol University: Professor of Applied Mathematics, 1977–1980
DAMTP, University of Cambridge: Professor of Mathematical Physics, 1980–2002; Head of Department, 1983–1991; Emeritus Professor, 2002--
Trinity College, Cambridge: Fellow, 1980–-
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge: Director, 1996–2001; Senior Fellow, 2001--
Editor, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 1966–1983
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau: Visiting Professor (professeur d'exercise partiel), 1992–1999
École Normale Supérieure, Paris: Chaire Internationale de Recherche Blaise Pascal, 2001–2003
African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Muizenberg, South Africa: Trustee and Member of Council, 2003
Leverhulme Emeritus Professor, 2003–2005
International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM): Member of Bureau, 1992–2000; President, 2000–2004; Vice-President, 2004--

Honours and awards

Fellow of the Royal Society, 1986
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1987
Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1991^[2]
Member of Academia Europæa, 1994
Foreign Member of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, 1998
Officier des Palmes académiques, 1998
Foreign Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, 2001
Panetti-Ferrari International Prize and Gold Medal, Academy of Sciences, Turin, 2001
Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2003
Euromech Prize for Fluid Mechanics, 2003
Caribbean Award for Fluid Dynamics, 2004
Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society, 2005
Hughes Medal of the Royal Society, 2005

Personal life

In 1960 he married Katharine (Linty), and together they had four children, two daughters and two sons, one of whom is deceased.^[1]

References

[1]
"Moffatt, Prof. (Henry) Keith, (born 12 April 1935), Professor of Mathematical Physics, University of Cambridge, 1980–2002, now Professor Emeritus (Head of Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, 1983–91); Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1961–76, and since 1980", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u27771, ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4, retrieved 4 May 2019
[2]
"H.K. Moffatt" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 July 2015.

Sources

Home page
Biography
Publications list
CV

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