Education:University College, Dublin 1964-1967,
1968-1969.
Brown University, 1969-1973.
Degrees:B.Sc. (Mathematical Science) with first
class honours, 1967.
M.Sc. (Mathematical Science) with first class
honours, 1969.
Ph.D., 1973.
Award: National University Travelling Studentship,
1969, first place.
Honours: Elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy,
1981.
NUIM Presidential Prize for Excellence in Research,
2002.
Employment: Meteorological Officer, Irish
Meteorological Service, 1967-1968.
Assistant Professor, UCLA, 1973-1975.
Professor of Mathematics, Maynooth College, 1975-1997.
Professor of Mathematics, NUI, Maynooth 1997-2012
Professor Emeritus, NUIM, 2012-present.
Other experience: Tutorial Assistant, U.C.D., 1968-
1969.
Consultant, U.C.D. Computer Laboratory, 1968-1969.
Fellow and Teaching Assistant, Brown, 1970-1973.
I set up the Maynooth College Computer Centre in December 1975,
and ran it for nine months, until a full-time director was appointed.
Head of Computer Science Department, Maynooth College,
1992 - 5.
Head of Mathematics, Maynooth, 1975-2007.
Research Associate, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
1979-present.
Visits of 1 month or more:
University of Grenoble, 1977 (1 month).
University of Connecticut, 1980 (5 months).
Cambridge University, 1985 and 1986 (6 months).
IHES, France, 1986 (4 months).
Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 1986 (2 months).
CRM, Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1991 (1 month).
Warwick, Mathematical Institute, 2009 (1 month).
CRM, 2009 (1 month)
Research interests: Groups of mappings,
Banach spaces of functions,
approximation,removable singularities, analytic and harmonic functions,
capacities, integral operators, superposition, megalithic art, genetics,
computer-aided design, artificial intelligence, philosophy of science.
Other Memberships: Irish Mathematical
Society (President, 1982-4; Secretary, 1984-5, 1987-9), London
Mathematical Society, Soci\'et\'e Math\'ematique de France, American
Mathematical Society, Mathematical Association of America,
Sigma Xi (1975-80), Irish
Meteorological Society, IEEE (1993-5), Association for Computing
Machinery (1993-2000). Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (2000-2012).
Administrative Experience: Extensive.
Theses Supervised: 1. Aongus O' Cairbre. 1980-2. Pointwise Convergence
of Fourier Series.
M.Sc. 1982.
2. Michael A. Conway. 1986-8. Extending Differentiable Functions.
M.Sc. 1989.
3. Denise J. Lord. 1987-9. Oligogenic Calculus. M.Sc. 1989.
4. Richard O. Watson. 1990-3. Tangent Stars. Ph.D. 1993.
5. Declan O'Keeffe. 1992-5. Calculation and Application
of Tangent Stars. Ph.D. 1995.
6. Thomas F. Dowling. 1993-6. Analysis and Computation
of Analytic Capacities. Ph.D. 1996.
7. Grayson Kakiko. 1996-8. Approximation by Algebras of
Smooth Functions. Ph.D. 1999.
8. Christoph List. 1996-8. Linearization of Holomorphic
Dynamical Systems. M.A. 1998.
9. Alejandro Sanabria. 1997-2001. Polynomial
hulls, complex dynamics and approximation problems. Ph.D. 2001.
Committees :
National Committee for Mathematics, National Sub-commission for Mathematical
Instruction, Higher Education Authority Advisory Group on Computer Services,
Standing Committee of the Irish Mathematical Society, Syllabus Committee of
the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association, Council of the Royal Irish Academy,
Membership sub-committee of the
RIA, Library Committee of the RIA,
Post-doctoral Fellowships Committee of the Department of Education,
Research grant committees of Forbairt, SFI, and the European Commission,
many assessment boards, untold committees at Maynooth College and University
(e.g. College
Executive Council, Timetable Committee (a one-man job), Budget and Finance
Committee, Staffing Committee, junior and senior Promotions Boards, Computer
Policy Group, Equality Committee, Environmental Committee, Coiste na Gaeilge,
Partnership Committee),
Maynooth Community Council (Secretary), NUIM/SPCM Academic Staff Association
(Chair 2005-8), Irish Federation of University Teachers Council and Executive
(Vice-President, 2006-8), NUIG President Search Committee (2007), NCCA JC Mathematics Course Committee, National Committee for Mathematical Science. Committee to select speakers at the British Mathematical Colloquium. National Committee for Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences.
Languages :
Native: English
Speak, Understand, Read, Write: Irish
Speak, Understand, Read: French, Spanish
Understand, Read: German
Read: Latin, Greek, Dutch, Italian, Russian
Have Read Mathematics in: Portuguese, Catalan,
Norwegian, Swedish, Serbo-Croat, Danish,
Czech, Bulgarian, Romanian.
Courses Taught:
Freshman Level: Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Geometry, Linear Algebra, Number
Theory, Programming, Finite Mathematics, Data Analysis;
General Level: Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, Differential Equations,
Complex Variable;
Honours Level: Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Partial
Differential Equations, Special Functions, Differential Geometry, Numerical
Analysis, Real Dynamical Systems, Mathematical Programming,
Advanced Elementary Mathematics, Number Theory.
Postgraduate: Functional Analysis, Algebraic Topology, Topics in Complex
Analysis, Commutative Banach Algebras, Numerical Analysis, Complex
Dynamics.
Extra-curricular: Training sessions for the national Mathematical
Olympiad.
Short technology-transfer courses for participants from
industry, government and the security forces on Cryptography, and on
Statistical Methods.
In-service
training courses for second-level teachers on aspects of the
Mathematics Curriculum, including Finite Difference Equations
and Mathematical Computing.
Quality Assessments: 1.
Many assessment boards for individual posts
of University/Institute of Technology
Professor or Lecturer, and posts in the public
service such as Meteorologist and Schools Inspector.
2.External examiner for Ph.D. theses at Cambridge, Leeds,
Toulouse, Barcelona (UAB), Nottingham, Warwick.
3.External Examiner in Pure Mathematics at Edinburgh,
and at St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra.
4.Assessor for the Department of Foreign Affairs of
the effectiveness of the Irish Aid programme directed at the
Department of Mathematics, University of Dar-es-Salaam.
5.Reviewer for the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
of the quality of the Mathematical Section of the Academy.
6.Member (and chair on one occasion) of committees of
the Department of Education and of
Eolas/Forbairt/Enterprise Ireland, charged with ranking applications
for research fellowships or grants.
7.Member of committees of the European Union DG XII, charged with
ranking applications for research support.
8.Member of the panel of advisors to the the former Teachers'
Registration
Council and now the Teaching Council, charged with recommending
on the recognition of individual
teachers or degree programmes for the purposes of teaching Mathematics
or Applied Mathematics in secondary schools.
9.External assessor for research grant applications to the
US National Science Foundation, and the equivalent bodies in Canada,
Britain, and Spain.
10.
Editorial consultant for the journals of the London Mathematical Society
and the Royal Irish Academy. Referee for many journals.
11. Chair of panel advising the Academy of Finland on research grant applications.
12. Member of panel advising the Royal Irish Academy
on research grant applications.