I was born in Belfast, N. Ireland and lived there through the height of the "troubles" until 1985, when I moved to London to study Theoretical Physics at Queen Mary and Westfield College. It was an exciting time, as the particle physics group at QMW were involved in a major collaboration which led to the discovery of the W and Z bosons, particles which had been predicted to exist through unification of the Electromagnetic and Weak forces.
After graduating, I stayed at QMW, but moved across to the School of Mathematical Sciences, where I completed a PhD under the supervision of Malcolm MacCallum. It is probably worth mentioning that during the midi-eighties, the IRA moved their terror campaign to London and other parts of the UK, so there was no escaping Irish politics!
In 1993 I joined the Applied Mathematics department, University of Cape Town as a Postdoc to work with George Ellis. Some of you reading this, particularly those familiar with the recent history of South Africa, might be beginning to see a pattern develop - this guy appears to move from one political hot spot to another! So, is it the Sudan or The Middle East next? I don't think so. Since 1998, I have held a permanent position in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, UCT and plan to stay. I guess Cape Town has had a positive effect on me.....
