Sir Andrew Wiles will be joining the Mathematical Instiute as a Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Research Professor.
Sir Andrew Wiles specialises in number theory and became famous for proving Fermat’s Last Theorem. The Theorem was first conjectured in 1637 but all attempts to solve it failed until Sir Andrew Wiles published his general proof in 1995 to international acclaim. His achievement was popularised in Simon Singh’s book Fermat’s Last Theorem and BBC Two’s Horizon. He will be moving from Princeton University to take up his new Royal Society Professorship at Oxford’s Mathematical Institute and Merton College in 2011.
For further information see this Oxford University news item