Sir Michael Atiyah, Fields Medallist and Abel Prize winner, dies at 89

The School of Mathematics is saddened to announce the death of Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, one of the most significant mathematicians of the second half of the 20th century, on 11 January 2019.

A longstanding member of the University of Edinburgh community, Sir Michael held an honorary professorship at the University from 1997. His contributions to topology, geometry and mathematical physics earned him some of the highest honours in mathematics, including the Fields Medal in 1966 and the Abel Prize in 2004 which he shared with Isadore Singer. 

Professor Iain Gordon, Head of the School of Mathematics, says "Michael Atiyah was a great mathematician whose work will continue to influence scientists, far in to the future. To us in Edinburgh he was a tremendous colleague, to the community of mathematicians and physicists he was an inspiration, and to people all across the world he was a wonderful friend. We will all miss him greatly".