Alan Wilson (academic)

Sir Alan Geoffrey Wilson FRS FBA FAcSS (born 8 January 1939) is a British mathematician and social scientist, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds and a professor at University College London.[1]

Sir Alan Wilson FRS FBA
Born	Alan Geoffrey Wilson (1939-01-08) 8 January 1939 Bradford
Education	Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (MA)
Awards	Knight Bachelor (2001)
Scientific career
Institutions	Alan Turing Institute University College London University of Leeds Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Website	iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=AGWIL25

Early life and education

Wilson was born in Bradford on 8 January 1939,[2] and educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School,[3] Darlington and the University of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and studied the Mathematical Tripos, graduating in 1960.[4]

Career and research

Wilson converted in the 1960s from theoretical physics to the social sciences through research on the mathematical modelling of cities (working in Oxford and London). From 1961 to 1964, he was a Scientific Officer in the Theoretical Physics Group at the Rutherford Laboratory; from 1964 to 1966, a Research Officer at the Institute of Economics and Statistics in the University of Oxford; from 1966 to 1968, Head of the Mathematical Advisory Group, Ministry of Transport; and from 1968 to 1970, Assistant Director of the Centre for Environmental Studies in London. He was appointed Professor of Urban and Regional Geography at the University of Leeds in 1970, Pro-Vice-Chancellor in 1989 and was Vice Chancellor from 1991. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1994, and was knighted in 2001.

Sir Alan retired in May 2004 after 13 years as Vice-Chancellor. During his time the University underwent unprecedented growth and transformation. Student numbers increased from 12,000 to 31,500, turnover increased from £100m to £320m and research income increased by more than 400% to £71m.

His knowledge of the university sector led to his appointment as first Director General for Higher Education by the UK Government, a post which he took up part-time in February 2004 and full-time on 1 June 2004. In this role, he was a key adviser to secretaries of state Charles Clarke, Ruth Kelly and Alan Johnson, and played a critical role in the government's drive to widen participation in higher education and maintaining a world-class education system.

In May 2006 he was appointed Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,[4] and took up the post in October. He resigned from the post of Master of Corpus Christi on 1 May 2007, after only seven months in post.

In September, 2007, he joined University College London to serve as Professor of Urban and Regional Systems at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis[5][6] He was the Chairman of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) from 2007-2013.[7] Since 2013, he has been Chair of the Home Office Science Advisory Council and Chair of the Lead Expert Group of the Government Office for Science Foresight project on the Future of Cities.

In 2016, he was appointed as Interim CEO of the Alan Turing Institute[8] before becoming director of special projects when Adrian Smith took over. He retired as executive chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute in February 2020, having overseen the organisation's development phase, and was succeeded by Dame Wendy Hall.[9]

Publications

• Entropy in urban and regional modelling. London: Pion, 1970. 166 p. / Russ. ed.: Вильсон А. Дж. Энтропийные методы моделирования сложных систем. – М., Наука, 1978. 248 с.

Awards and honours

Wilson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2006.[10] He was awarded the Laureat d’Honneur by the International Geographical Union and the 2004 Prize in Regional Science by the European Regional Science Association.

Personal life

Wilson's wife's name is Sarah.[11]

References

1. UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis accessed 19 December 2010
2. Debrett's Archived 15 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine Prof Sir Alan Wilson, FBA, FRS
3. Kelly, Jim (28 October 2003). "Top man". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
4. "New Master announced for College". Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 19 October 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
5. "Staff". Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
6. "Professor Sir Alan Wilson joins UCL CASA". Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
7. "Professor Sir Alan Wilson". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
8. "Leadership - The Alan Turing Institute". Turing.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
9. "Professor Dame Wendy Hall appointed Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute". Nuffield Foundation. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
10. "Alan Wilson : Bio". Royalsociety.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
11. Leeds Reporter 503 (2004) Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retirements Confirmed

Academic offices
Preceded by Edward Parkes	Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds 1991–2004	Succeeded by Michael Arthur
Preceded by Haroon Ahmed	Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 2006-2007	Succeeded by Oliver Rackham