Frances Kirwan

{{Infobox scientist

| honorific_prefix = Dame

| name = Frances Kirwan

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE|FRS}}

| image = Frances Kirwan.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Kirwan in 2009

| birth_date = 21 August 1959{{Cite web|url=http://companycheck.co.uk/director/915281815/PROFESSOR-FRANCES-CLARE-KIRWAN/summary|title=PROFESSOR FRANCES CLARE KIRWAN director information. Free director information. Director id 915281815|first=company check|last=ltd|website=Company Check}}

| birth_place = UK

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| fields = Mathematics

| workplaces = University of Oxford

| alma_mater = University of Cambridge
University of Oxford

| doctoral_advisor = Michael Atiyah

| thesis_title = The Cohomology of Quotients in Symplectic and Algebraic Geometry

| awards = {{Nowrap|Whitehead Prize (1989)
Senior Whitehead Prize (2013)
Suffrage Science award (2016)
Sylvester Medal of The Royal Society(2021)}}

|website = {{url|https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/people/frances.kirwan}}

}}

Dame Frances Clare Kirwan, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE|FRS}} (born 21 August 1959){{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/m7oJhMfs8G8QXRs0SMhTNZFbDL8/appointments|title=Frances Clare KIRWAN personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK|website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}} is a British mathematician, currently Savilian Professor of Geometry at the University of Oxford. Her fields of specialisation are algebraic and symplectic geometry.Oxford University Calendar 2004-05, Oxford University Press (2004).[http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/~ndg/fom/kirwanqu.html Professor Frances Kirwan profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206204944/http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/~ndg/fom/kirwanqu.html |date=6 February 2012 }}, Faces of Mathematics; accessed 23 March 2022.

Education

Kirwan was educated at Oxford High School, and studied maths as an undergraduate at Clare College in the University of Cambridge.{{cite web |url=http://advance.washington.edu/news/events/month/2007-05/frances-kirwan-professor-mathematics-university-oxford |title=Frances Kirwan, Professor, Mathematics, University of Oxford |date=10 May 2007 |publisher=University of Washington |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113021001/http://advance.washington.edu/news/events/month/2007-05/frances-kirwan-professor-mathematics-university-oxford |archive-date=13 November 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=13 November 2015}} She took a D.Phil at Oxford in 1984, with the dissertation title The Cohomology of Quotients in Symplectic and Algebraic Geometry, which was supervised by Michael Atiyah.{{MathGenealogy|id=59549}}

Research

Kirwan's research interests include moduli spaces in algebraic geometry, geometric invariant theory (GIT), and in the link between GIT and moment maps in symplectic geometry.[http://www.europeanwomeninmaths.org/women-in-math/portrait/frances-kirwan Prof Kirwan profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810114708/http://europeanwomeninmaths.org/women-in-math/portrait/frances-kirwan |date=10 August 2016 }}, europeanwomeninmaths.org; accessed 9 May 2014. Her work endeavours to understand the structure of geometric objects by investigation of their algebraic and topological properties.[http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~ndg/fom/kirwanqu.html Prof Kirwan profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228113525/http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~ndg/fom/kirwanqu.html |date=28 December 2021 }}, macs.hw.ac.uk; accessed 9 May 2014. She introduced the Kirwan map.

From 1983 to 1985 she held a junior fellowship at Harvard. From 1983 to 1986 she held a Fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, before becoming a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.[http://www.ae-info.org/ae/User/Kirwan_Frances Academia Europaea member profile], retrieved 22 June 2014. She is an honorary fellow of Clare College, Cambridge{{cite web |url=http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/emeritus-honorary-and-foundation-fellows/ |title=Honorary Fellows |publisher=Clare College, Cambridge |access-date=12 November 2015 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331132711/http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/Emeritus-Honorary-and-Foundation-Fellows/ |url-status=dead }} and also at Magdalen College.{{Cite web |title=People at Magdalen |url=https://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/people-at-magdalen/?type=honorary_and_waynflete_fellows |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Magdalen College Oxford}}

In 1996, she was awarded the Title of Distinction of Professor of Mathematics. From 2004 to 2006 she was president of the London Mathematical Society, the second-youngest president in the society's history and only the second woman to be president.[https://web.archive.org/web/20030707134559/http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/news/general/2003/pdlms.shtml "President Designate of the London Mathematical Society"], Mathematical Institute News, University of Oxford, 2004.{{cite web |title=Female Presidents for Three Maths Societies |url=https://ima.org.uk/8604/female-presidents-three-maths-societies/ |website=IMA |publisher=Institute of Mathematics |access-date=14 March 2021 |date=5 January 2018}} In 2005, she received a five-year EPSRC Senior Research Fellowship, to support her research on the moduli spaces of complex algebraic curves.[http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/news/general/2004/kirwan.shtml Prof. Frances Kirwan awarded an EPSRC Senior Research Fellowship (2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918162116/http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/news/general/2004/kirwan.shtml |date=18 September 2016 }}, maths.ox.ac.uk; accessed 9 May 2014.

In 2017, she was elected Savilian Professor of Geometry, becoming the first woman to hold the post.{{cite web|url=https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/news/2017/october/frances-kirwan-elected-20th-savilian-professor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013122232/http://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/news/2017/october/frances-kirwan-elected-20th-savilian-professor|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2017|title=Frances Kirwan elected 20th Savilian Professor|access-date=21 October 2017|date=11 October 2017}} While this entailed a move to New College, Oxford she was elected an emeritus fellow at Balliol.{{cite web|url=https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/balliol-people/emeritus-fellows |title=Emeritus Fellows - Balliol|access-date=17 November 2018|date=28 August 2009}} She was the convenor of the 2008–9 meeting of European Women in Mathematics and deputy convenor of the following meeting in 2010–11.{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=History |url=https://www.europeanwomeninmaths.org/about-us/history/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=European Women in Mathematics |language=en-US}}

Prizes, awards and scholarships

London Mathematical Society Whitehead Prize, 1989[http://www.lms.ac.uk/prizes/list-lms-prize-winners#Whitehead_Prize Dr Frances Kirwan awarded the Whitehead Prize], lms.ac.uk; accessed 9 May 2014.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 2001[https://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/about-us/fellowship/Female-Fellows.pdf Profile], royalsociety.org; accessed 9 May 2014.
President, London Mathematical Society, 2003–2005
EPSRC Senior Research Fellowship, 2005–2010, for her work in algebraic geometry[http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/641 Prof. Frances Kirwan awarded an EPSRC Senior Research Fellowship], Univ. of Oxford Mathematical Inst., retrieved 20 October 2014.
Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, 2012[https://www.ams.org/profession/fellows-list List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society]; accessed 9 May 2014
London Mathematical Society Senior Whitehead Prize, 2013
DBE for services to mathematics, 2014{{London Gazette|issue=60728|supp=y|page=7|date=31 December 2013}}
Maths and Computing Suffrage Science award, 2016{{Cite web|title=LMS members to receive maths and computing awards {{!}} London Mathematical Society|url=http://lms-staging.ma.ic.ac.uk/news-entry/04102016-1137/lms-members-receive-maths-and-computing-awards|access-date=2021-05-13|website=lms-staging.ma.ic.ac.uk|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513101348/http://lms-staging.ma.ic.ac.uk/news-entry/04102016-1137/lms-members-receive-maths-and-computing-awards|url-status=dead}}(registration required)
Member of Academia Europaea
Chairman of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust
Sylvester Medal of The Royal Society, 2021
Honorary degree, University of York, 2020{{Cite web |date=January 2020 |title=Introducing our Honorary Graduates |url=http://features.york.ac.uk/introducing-our-honorary-graduates-2020/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=University of York |language=en}}
Honorary degree, University of St Andrews, 2022{{Cite web |date=2022 | title=Honorary graduates |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/graduation/honorands/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=University of St Andrews |language=en}}
L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards (Laureate for Europe – Mathematics), 2023{{Cite web |title=Discover the laureates of the 25th L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards {{!}} UNESCO |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/discover-laureates-25th-loreal-unesco-women-science-international-awards |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.unesco.org |language=en}}

Kirwan served on the medal-selection committee that awarded the Fields medal to Maryam Mirzakhani.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28739373|title=First female winner for maths medal|last=Webb|first=Jonathan|date=12 August 2014|access-date=8 October 2019|language=en-GB}}

Publications

{{cite book|title=Cohomology of Quotients in Symplectic and Algebraic Geometry|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1984|isbn=978-0691083704|series=Mathematical Notes|volume=31}}
{{cite book|title=An Introduction to Intersection Homology Theory|year=1988|publisher=Longman Scientific and Technical}}{{cite journal|author=Kleiman, Steven L.|author-link=Steven Kleiman|title=Review: An Introduction to Intersection Homology Theory, by Frances Kirwan|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.)|year=1990|volume=22|issue=1|pages=127–138|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1990-22-01/S0273-0979-1990-15859-8/|doi=10.1090/s0273-0979-1990-15859-8|doi-access=free}} with Jonathan Woolf: {{cite book|title=2nd edn|year=2006|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1584881841}}
{{cite book|title=Complex Algebraic Curves|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|series=London Mathematical Society Student Texts|isbn=978-0521423533}}