Peter Michael Neumann OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 28 December 1940) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

. He is the son of the mathematicians Bernhard Neumann

Bernhard Neumann

Bernhard Hermann Neumann AC FRS was a German-born British mathematician who was one of the leading figures in group theory, greatly influencing the direction of the subject....

 and Hanna Neumann

Hanna Neumann

Johanna Neumann was a German-born mathematician who worked on group theory.Johanna was born in Lankwitz, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. She attended Auguste-Viktoria-Schule and the University of Berlin and completed her studies in 1936 with distinctions in mathematics and physics. She began...

 and, after gaining a B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...

 in 1963, obtained his D.Phil

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 from Oxford University in 1966. He is married to Sylvia, and has three children — David, Jenny and James.

He was a Tutorial Fellow at the Queen's College, Oxford and a lecturer at Oxford University. After retiring in 2008, he became an Emeritus Fellow at the Queen's College. His work has been in the field of group theory

Group theory

In mathematics and abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups.The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operations and...

. He is also known for solving Alhazen's problem

Alhazen's problem

Ibn al-Haytham's work on catoptrics in Book V of the Book of Optics contains the important Islamic mathematical problem known as Alhazen's problem....

 in 1997. His interests outside of work include the dances of Cecil Sharp

Cecil Sharp

Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...

.

In 1987, he won the Lester R. Ford Award of the Mathematical Association of America

Mathematical Association of America

The Mathematical Association of America 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 and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...

 for his review of Harold Edwards'

Harold Edwards (mathematician)

Harold Mortimer Edwards, Jr. is an American mathematician working in number theory, algebra, and the history and philosophy of mathematics....

 book Galois Theory.
In 2003, the London Mathematical Society

London Mathematical Society

-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...

 awarded him the Senior Whitehead Prize

Senior Whitehead Prize

The Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society is currently awarded in odd numbered years in memory of John Henry Constantine Whitehead, president of the LMS between 1953 and 1955. The Prize is awarded to mathematicians normally resident in the United Kingdom on 1 January of the...

. He was the first Chairman of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

United Kingdom Mathematics Trust

The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust was founded in 1996 to help with the education of children in mathematics within the UK.-History:...

, from October 1996 to April 2004, succeeded by Bernard Silverman

Bernard Silverman

Bernard Silverman FRS is a British statistician. He was Master of St Peter's College, Oxford from 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2009...

. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours

New Year Honours 2008

The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....

.

External links