Keith Moffatt

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.

Keith Moffatt
Born (1935-04-12) 12 April 1935
Edinburgh, Scotland
Other namesHenry Keith Moffatt
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
University of Cambridge
Known forMoffatt eddies
Helicity
Non-axisymmetric Burgers vortices
AwardsSmith's Prize (1960)
Senior Whitehead Prize (2005)
Hughes Medal (2005)
Fellow of the Royal Society (1986)
Scientific career
Fieldsmagnetohydrodynamics
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
Thesis Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence  (1962)
Doctoral advisorGeorge Batchelor
Doctoral studentsMichael Proctor
Renzo Ricca
Andrew Soward

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.

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.[2] He received his PhD in 1962; his dissertation, Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence, was supervised by George Batchelor.[3]

Career

After completing his PhD, Moffatt joined the staff of the Mathematics Faculty at the University of 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.[4]

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).[2]

He held the Chaire Internationale de Recherche Blaise Pascal at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, from 2001–2003, and was Leverhulme Professor, 2003–2005. He was president of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from 2000 to 2004.[2]

Publications

Moffatt has published more than 200 papers. He is the author or coauthor of books including:

  • Keith Moffatt (1978). Magnetic Field Generation in Electrically Conducting Fluids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521216401. 2nd ed., 1983.[5]
  • Keith Moffatt; Emmanuel Dormy (2019). Self-Exciting Fluid Dynamos. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108717052.[6]

He also co-edited

  • G. K. Batchelor; H. K. Moffatt; M. G. Worster, eds. (2000). Perspectives in Fluid Dynamics: A Collective Introduction to Current Research. Cambridge University Press.[7]
  • H. K. Moffatt; Emily Shuckburgh, eds. (2011). Environmental Hazards: The Fluid Dynamics and Geophysics of Extreme Events. World Scientific.[8]

Honours and awards

Moffatt was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1986,[9] Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1988,[2] Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991,[10] Member of Academia Europæa in 1994, Foreign Member of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, in 1998, Foreign Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, in 2001, Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2003, and a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008.[2]

He became an officer in the Palmes académiques in 1998. He received the Panetti-Ferrari International Prize and Gold Medal of the Academy of Sciences of Turin in 2001, the Euromech Prize for Fluid Mechanics in 2003,[2] the Caribbean Award for Fluid Dynamics in 2004,[9] the Senior Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society in 2005,[2] and the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society in 2005.[9]

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. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b c d e f g "Curriculum vitae" (PDF). July 2022.
  3. ^ Keith Moffatt at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  4. ^ "Professor Keith Moffatt FRS". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008.
  5. ^ Reviews of Magnetic Field Generation in Electrically Conducting Fluids:
  6. ^ Review of Self-Exciting Fluid Dynamos:
  7. ^ Reviews of Perspectives in Fluid Dynamics:
    • Aref, H. (June 2002). Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 461: 408–410. doi:10.1017/s0022112002218972.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
    • Darby, Ron (September 2002). "Books" (PDF). CEP Magazine. p. 80.
    • Gad-el-Hak, M. (September 2001). Applied Mechanics Reviews. 54 (5): B89 – B90. doi:10.1115/1.1399678.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
    • Miles, John (December 2001). SIAM Review. 43 (4): 728–731. JSTOR 3649738.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  8. ^ Review of Environmental Hazards:
    • Yajnik, Kirit S. (10 June 2013). Current Science. 104 (11): 1562–1563. JSTOR 24092484.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  9. ^ a b c "Keith Moffatt". Fellows directory. Royal Society. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Keith Moffatt" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
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