Ruth Lawrence: A Mathematician & Former Child Prodigy

There is not any minimum or maximum age of learning. Some people set records at an older age. But there are people whom we can say that they are born to be prodigy. Ruth Lawrence is such a person. Roth Lawrence is the mathematical child prodigy and also known as the “Brainiest Child in Britain.”

Early Education and Excellency:

Born on 2 August 1971, Ruth Lawrence is a British-Israeli Mathematician. She was born in Brighton in England. Her father, Harry Lawrence, and mother Sylvia Greybourne both were computer consultants. To educate Lawrence at home, her father gives up on his job.

Lawrence set a new record by gaining an O Level in mathematics at the age of nine. Later in 2001, Arran Fernandez broke her record. Also, Lawrence received a Grade A at A-level pure mathematics at the age of nine.

 In 1981, Lawrence passed the Oxford University entrance examination in mathematics. At the age of twelve, she joined St Hugh’s College in 1893.

Lawrence completed her Bachelor’s degree in just two years instead of three years. Her father went with her there to help her. In 1985, She became graduated at the age of thirteen with a starred first and special commendation. Also, she became the youngest person to gain Bachelor’s degree from Oxford University.

One year later, she got Bachelor’s degree in physics also in the year 1986. Lawrence holds a Doctor of Philosophy(DPhil) degree in mathematics from the same university in 1989, at the age of 17.

Academic career :

When Lawrence got her posting at Haward University, she went to America. Her father also went along with her. In the year 1990, she became a junior fellow at the age of 19. After three years of her first posting, Lawrence moved to the University of Michigan in 1993. There she became an associate professor with tenure in 1997.

Lawrence adopted the name  Ruth Lawrence Neimark in 1998 after marrying Ariyeh Neimark, a mathematician at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

In the next year, She went to Israel with her husband. Currently, Lawrence is at the post of associate professor of mathematics at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, a part of the University of Jerusalem. Also, she is a researcher in Knot Theory and Algebraic Topology.

Ruth Lawrence- Research Works:

In 1990, Lawrence wrote the paper “Homological representation of Hecke Algebra.” She wrote in Communications in Mathematical Physics. It introduced, among other things, specific novel linear representations of the braid group known as Lawrence – Krammer Representation.

In 2000 and 2001, some papers were published by Daan Krammer and Stephen Bigelow. In these papers, the faithfulness of Lawrence’s Paper was established. 

Lawrence has put her name on many achievements in a little age. She is having the honor of being a member of the American Mathematical Society in 2012. She is inspiring many people by her early age achievements.

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