Arran Fernandez
{{Short description|British mathematician (born 1995)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
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| name = Arran Fernandez
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| birth_place = United Kingdom
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| workplaces = Eastern Mediterranean University
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| education = Home-educated
| alma_mater = University of Cambridge
| thesis_title = Analysis in Fractional Calculus and Asymptotics Related to Zeta Functions
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| thesis_year = 2018
| doctoral_advisor = Athanassios S. Fokas
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Arran Fernandez (born June 1995) is a British mathematician who, in June 2013, became Senior Wrangler at Cambridge University, aged 18 years and 0 months. He is thought to be the youngest Senior Wrangler ever.{{cite news |title=Student, 18, youngest ever to come top in Cambridge maths finals |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date= 21 June 2013}}{{#tag:ref|The previous youngest was probably James Wilkinson in 1939, aged 19 years, 9 months,;[http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1074920 Wilkinson, James H.] {{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Computer Science|publisher=Springer London|year=2003|first=Sven|last=Hammarling|isbn=0-470-86412-5}} up to 1909, the youngest was Peter Guthrie Tait in 1862, aged 20 years, 8 months.{{cite book |title=Arthur Cayley: mathematician laureate of the Victorian age |last=Crilly |first=Tony |year=2006 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-8011-4 |page=160 }}}}
Biography
Prior to university, Fernandez was educated at home, predominantly by his father, Neil Fernandez.{{cite news|url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/02/10/a-focus-on-maths/|title=A focus on maths|access-date=2021-02-15|publisher=Cyprus Mail | location=Nicosia | first=Agnieszka | last=Rakoczy| date=2021-02-10}}{{cite interview |author=Jennifer Zamparelli |title=Jennifer Zamparelli on 2FM |publisher=RTE |location=Dublin, Ireland |date=November 2020 | url=https://podcast.rasset.ie/podcasts/audio/2020/1209/20201209_rte2fm-jenniferzamparelli-drarranfer_c21878392_21878394_232_.mp3}} In 2001 he broke the age record for gaining a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), the English academic qualification usually taken at age 16, for which he sat the examinations aged five.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1505857.stm|title=GCSE success stories|access-date=2008-09-16|publisher=BBC | date=2001-08-23}} In 2003 he became the youngest person ever to gain an A* grade at GCSE, also for Mathematics.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/aug/22/gcses2003.gcses4|title=Bright young things set record|access-date=2008-09-16|work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Rebecca | last=Smithers | date=2003-08-22}}{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/0,1518,262971,00.html|title=Achtjähriges Wunderkind: Klüger ohne Schule|access-date=2009-02-14|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=27 August 2003}}
In October 2010, when Fernandez began studying the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos aged 15 years and 3 months, he was the youngest Cambridge University undergraduate since William Pitt the Younger in 1773.{{cite news|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2010/jan/07/uk-14-year-old-prodigy-offered-place-at-cambridge|title=14-Year-Old Prodigy Offered Place at Cambridge |access-date=2015-08-30|work=San Diego Union Tribune}}{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/boy-who-broke-gcse-record-at-five-is-off-to-cambridge-6509443.html |title=Boy who broke GCSE record at five is off to Cambridge |date=12 April 2012 |access-date=2018-09-07 |publisher=London Evening Standard }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jan/07/cambridge-university-14-arran-fernandez|title=Cambridge University offers place to 14-year-old|access-date=2010-01-08|work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Sam | last=Jones | date=2010-01-07| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109193203/http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/07/cambridge-university-14-arran-fernandez| archive-date= 9 January 2010 | url-status= live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/maths-prodigy-arran-fernandez-is-the-youngest-cambridge-fresher-since-1773-2098824.html|title=Maths prodigy Arran Fernandez is the youngest Cambridge fresher since 1773|access-date=2011-01-16|work=The Independent|date=2010-10-06|location=London|first=Richard|last=Garner}}{{cite web|url=http://qn.quotidiano.net/esteri/2010/09/03/379427-ragazzino_anni.shtml|title=Un ragazzino di 15 anni si è iscritto a Cambridge, è record|access-date=2011-01-16|publisher=Quotidiano.net|date=2010-09-03}}
Fernandez believes it was his exceptional environment rather than exceptional nature, that enabled him to achieve his academic successes.{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/i-took-gcse-5-went-23057884|title='I took GCSE at 5 and went to Cambridge at 15 - but I believe it's nurture not nature'|access-date=2020-11-24|publisher=Daily Mirror | location=London | first=Zoe | last=Forsey | date=2020-11-24}} "Everything I achieved is because of my education and the opportunities I had. And the big part of my story is that I never went to school. My parents never believed in the official education system."{{cite news|url=https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/02/10/a-focus-on-maths/|title=A focus on maths|access-date=2021-02-15|publisher=Cyprus Mail | location=Nicosia | first=Agnieszka | last=Rakoczy| date=2021-02-10}} In a 2020 interview with Raidio Teilifis Eireann he stated his opinion that a large number of people could achieve at the same level if they had the same opportunities as he did, and that those opportunities "would have to start at a very young age", such as at two years old.{{cite interview |author=Jennifer Zamparelli |title=Jennifer Zamparelli on 2FM |publisher=RTE |location=Dublin, Ireland |date=November 2020 | url=https://podcast.rasset.ie/podcasts/audio/2020/1209/20201209_rte2fm-jenniferzamparelli-drarranfer_c21878392_21878394_232_.mp3}}
Starting in 2000 (aged five) Fernandez had several sequences published in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS), the number theory database established by Neil Sloane.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/aug/24/gcses2001.gcses1|title=Integer sequences? Easy-peasy|access-date=2009-02-14|work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Rebecca | last=Smithers | date=2001-08-24}}{{Cite OEIS|1=A057142|2=Occurrences of most frequently occurring number in 1-to-n multiplication table|access-date=2009-02-14}}[http://oeis.org/search?q=Arran+Fernandez List of sequences] in OEIS authored by Arran Fernandez Since 2017, he has had more than 20 mathematical research articles published in peer-reviewed international journals.{{cite web|url=https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/search/publications.html?pg1=INDI&s1=1206219|title=Arran Fernandez MathSciNet profile}}{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arran_Fernandez/research|title=Arran Fernandez Research Gate profile}}{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=je2IGrMAAAAJ&hl=en|title=Arran Fernandez Google Scholar profile}}
Television work featuring Fernandez has included an appearance as a "Person of the Week" on Frank Elstner's talk show on German TV in 2001,{{cite web|url=http://www.presseportal.de/pm/7169/280702/swr_suedwestrundfunk/|title=Frank Elstner: Menschen der Woche|access-date=2009-02-13|publisher=Presseportal}} and an appearance on Terry Wogan’s and
Gaby Roslin's The Terry and Gaby Show on British TV in 2003,{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/779374|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130180158/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/779374|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-30|title=The Terry and Gaby Show|access-date=2009-02-13|publisher=British Film Institute}} when he beat mathematics popularizer Johnny Ball in a live mental arithmetic contest, successfully extracting the fifth roots of several large integers.
In September 2018, having completed master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Cambridge, Fernandez joined the faculty of the Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus as an assistant professor of mathematics,{{cite web|url=http://www.kibrispostasi.com/c91-EGITIM/n263459-dunyaca-unlu-genc-matematikci-daude-goreve-basladi-20092018|title=Dünyaca ünlü genç matematikçi DAÜ'de göreve başladı|publisher=Kibris Postasi
|date=20 September 2018}}{{cite web
|url=https://fas.emu.edu.tr/en/news-events/news?pid=89&t=new-faculty-member-assist-prof-dr-arran-fernandez
|title=New Faculty Member Assist. Prof. Dr. Arran Fernandez
|publisher=Eastern Mediterranean University
|date=3 January 2019}} where in 2022 he became an associate professor. His main research areas are in fractional calculus and analytic number theory.
References
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Category:Academic staff of Eastern Mediterranean University
Category:Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Category:Alumni of Clare Hall, Cambridge