John Toland

Who is John Toland?

John Francis Toland FRS FRSE is a British/Irish mathematician. He is currently Director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences and NM Rothschild & Sons Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where he succeeded Sir David Wallace in October 2011.

His research interests include mathematical analysis and nonlinear partial differential equations, and he has made substantial contributions to the rigorous theory of steady water waves. In 1978, he proved Stokes' conjecture on the existence of gravity waves of maximum height on deep water, a previously open problem in mathematical hydrodynamics which dated back to the 19th century.

John Toland was Professor of Mathematics at the University of Bath from 1982 to 2011, and was Scientific Director of the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences from 2002 to 2010 and the President of the London Mathematical Society from 2005 to 2007. He held an EPSRC Senior Research Fellowship from 1997 to 2002.