Professor Peter Higgins was born in Australia in 1956, the youngest of six children. After working in both Australia and California, he moved with his wife and four children to the University of Essex in Colchester in 1990 where he is currently Professor of Pure Mathematics. In 2013 he was elected Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

 

Peter has published over 60 papers in various aspects of algebra and combinatorics but is known to the wider public as an author and public speaker on matters mathematical. His books have sold in tens of thousands across the globe and have been translated into a dozen languages. He is also an accomplished playwright and his play Last Requests has been performed professionally in both Britain and Australia. Peter is also an active member of his local community and has been elected four times as a Councillor for Colchester in Essex.