View source for Biography:Nicholas Higham

{{Short description|British numerical analyst (1961–2024)}}
{{for multi|the BBC News correspondent|Nick Higham|the medieval historian|N. J. Higham}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Nick Higham
| birth_name        = Nicholas John Higham
| image             =
| caption           = Nick Higham in 2005
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1961|12|25}}
| birth_place       = Salford, England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|2024|01|20|1961|12|25}}
| death_place       = 
| citizenship       = United Kingdom
| nationality       = British
| ethnicity         = 
| field             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Mathematics]] 
* [[Numerical analysis]] 
* [[Numerical linear algebra]] 
* [[Software:Mathematical software|Mathematical software]]<ref name="googlescholar"/>}}
| work_institutions = [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]]<br>[[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]]<ref name="whoswho_2013"/>
| alma_mater        = [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]]
| thesis_title      = Nearness Problems in Numerical Linear Algebra
| thesis_url        = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.374580
| thesis_year       = 1985
| doctoral_advisor  = George Hall<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy|id=96012}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = Kim Hyun-Min
| known_for         = 
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Biography:Alston Scott Householder|Alston Householder]] Award VI (1987)
* Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis (1988)
* Junior Whitehead Prize (1999)
* Fellow of the Royal Society (2007)
* Fröhlich Prize (2008) 
* SIAM Fellow (2009)
* Naylor Prize and Lectureship (2019)
* IMA Gold Medal (2020)
* [[ACM Fellow]] (2020)
* George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition (2021)
* Hans Schneider Prize in Linear Algebra (2022)
* Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2022)
}}
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = 
| website           = {{URL|http://nhigham.com}} 
}}

'''Nicholas John Higham''' FRS (25 December 1961 – 20 January 2024) was a British [[Numerical analysis|numerical analyst]].<ref name="whoswho_2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U45539/ |title=HIGHAM, Prof. Nicholas John', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press }}</ref> He was Royal Society Research Professor and Richardson Professor of Applied Mathematics in the [[Organization:Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester|Department of Mathematics]] at the [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~higham/|title=Nick Higham - School of Mathematics, University of Manchester|website=www.maths.manchester.ac.uk|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref><ref name="googlescholar">{{GoogleScholar|EYlMkOgAAAAJ}}</ref><ref name="mathgene"/><ref name="scopus">{{Scopus|id=7003377200}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2018/03/royal-society-research-professorships-announced/|title=Leading scientists awarded Royal Society Research Professorships|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-10-09}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
Nicholas John Higham was born in Salford on 25 December 1961.<ref name="whoswho_2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U45539 |title=HIGHAM, Prof. Nicholas John |work=Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press }}{{subscription required}}</ref> He was educated at Eccles Grammar School, Eccles College, and the [[Organization:University of Manchester|University of Manchester]], from which he gained his B.Sc. in mathematics (1982), M.Sc. in Numerical Analysis and Computing (1983), and PhD in Numerical Analysis (1985).<ref name="whoswho_2013"/><ref name="highamphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Nicholas|last=Higham |title=Nearness Problems in Numerical Linear Algebra |publisher=University of Manchester |year= 1985 |url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.374580|author-link=Nicholas Higham}}</ref> His PhD thesis was supervised by George Hall.<ref name="mathgene"/> He was appointed lecturer in mathematics at the University of Manchester in 1985, where he has been Richardson Professor of Applied Mathematics since 1998.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

In 1988–1989 he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/nick.higham.html |title= Prof Nicholas Higham FRS {{!}} The University of Manchester |website= www.research.manchester.ac.uk |language=en |access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref>

==Research==
Higham is best known for his work on the accuracy and stability of numerical algorithms.<ref name="acc">{{cite book|url=http://bookstore.siam.org/ot80|title=Accuracy and Stability of Numerical Algorithms|author=Higham, Nicholas J.|publisher=Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics|year=2002|isbn=978-0-89871-521-7|location=Second Edition, Philadelphia}}</ref> He has more than 140 refereed publications<ref name="googlescholar" /><ref name="scopus" /> on topics such as rounding error analysis, linear systems, least squares problems, matrix functions and nonlinear matrix equations, matrix nearness problems, condition number estimation, and generalized eigenvalue problems. He has contributed software to [[Software:LAPACK|LAPACK]] and the [[Company:Numerical Algorithms Group|NAG library]], and has contributed code included in the [[Software:MATLAB|MATLAB]] distribution.

Higham's books include  ''Functions of Matrices: Theory and Computation'', (2008),<ref>{{cite book|url=http://bookstore.siam.org/ot104|title=Functions of Matrices: Theory and Computation|author=Higham, Nicholas J.|publisher=Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics|year=2008|isbn=978-0-89871-646-7|location=Philadelphia}}</ref>''Accuracy and Stability of Numerical Algorithms'',<ref name="acc" /> ''Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences'',<ref>{{Cite book|last=Higham|first=Nicholas J. |title=Handbook of writing for the mathematical sciences |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-61197-610-6 |edition=Third |location=Philadelphia |oclc=1131865845}}</ref> and ''MATLAB Guide'', co-authored with his brother [[Biography:Desmond Higham|Desmond Higham]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Higham |first=Desmond J. |title=MATLAB guide|date=2017 |author2=Nicholas J. Higham |isbn=978-1-61197-465-2 |edition=Third |location=Philadelphia |oclc=957339736}}</ref> He was Editor of the ''Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10592.html|title=The Princeton Companion to Applied Mathematics|last1=Higham|first1=Nicholas J.|last2=Dennis|first2=Mark R.|last3=Glendinning|first3=Paul|last4=Martin|first4=Paul A.|last5=Santosa|first5=Fadil|last6=Tanner|first6=Jared|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2015|isbn=9780691150390}}</ref> and a contributor to the ''Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/293197/the-penguin-dictionary-of-mathematics-by-david-nelson/9780141030234|title=Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics|last=Nelson|first=David|date=2008-10-02|publisher=Penguin Adult |isbn=9780141030234}}</ref> His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese and Korean.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sūri kagaku ronbun handobukku|date=1994|publisher=日本評論社|author=Higham, N.J. |translator=Okumura, Shōji |translator2=Hasegawa, Takemitsu |isbn=978-4535782112 |oclc=674217300}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Shu xue lun wen xie zuo|last=Higham|first=Nick|date=2016|publisher=Ke xue chu ban she|others=Jia,Zhigang, Chang,Liang, Li,Jianbo, 贾志刚, 常亮, 李建波|isbn=9787030513472|edition=Di 1 ban|location=Beijing|oclc=1050517123}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ajin.to/index.php?salegdno=132&gtype=1&pgurl=shop/sh_goods_view&ctpose=AAGAAB&ctno=327&otype=6&olist=50&|title=대학교재 전문 출판사(도서출판 아진)|last=아진|first=도서출판|website=ajin.to|access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>

==Professional service==
Higham served as president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) 2017–2018, as vice president at Large 2010–2013, and on the SIAM Board of Trustees 2006–2009, and Council 1996–2001. He was a member of the Applied Mathematics sub-panel for the 2008 UK Research Assessment Exercise and the Mathematical Sciences sub-panel of the 2014 UK Research Exercise Excellence Framework.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==Death==
Higham died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 62.<ref name="ilas_2024">{{cite web |url=https://ilasic.org/ilas-net-archive-2024/ |title=Message Archive|publisher=International Linear Algebra Society|access-date=2024-01-22}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
Higham's honours include the [[Biography:Alston Scott Householder|Alston S. Householder]] Award VI, 1987 (for the best PhD thesis in numerical algebra 1984–1987), the 1988 Leslie Fox Prize for Numerical Analysis, a 1999 Junior Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society, a 2020 IMA Gold Medal,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-10|title=IMA Gold Medal 2020 awarded to Professor Nick Higham|url=https://ima.org.uk/15765/ima-gold-medal-2020-awarded-to-professor-nick-higham/|access-date=2021-03-15|website=IMA|language=en-GB}}</ref> the [https://www.lms.ac.uk/sites/lms.ac.uk/files/files/n_higham.pdf 2019 Naylor Prize and Lectureship] by the London Mathematical Society, the [https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/an21-prize-spotlight#5 2021 George Pólya Prize for Mathematical Exposition] by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), and the 2022 Hans Schneider Prize in Linear Algebra. Higham held a prestigious [[Organization:Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award|Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award]] (2003–2008). He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070717173348/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?tip=1&id=6616 New Fellows and Foreign Members 2007 www.royalsoc.ac.uk]</ref> and as a [[ACM Fellow]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2020 ACM Fellows Recognized for Work that Underpins Today's Computing Innovations|url=https://www.acm.org/media-center/2021/january/fellows-2020|access-date=2021-03-15|website=www.acm.org|language=en}}</ref>  In 2008 he was awarded the Fröhlich Prize in recognition of 'his leading contributions to numerical linear algebra and numerical stability analysis'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lms.ac.uk/activities/prizes_com/citations08.html|title=Prize Winners 2008|access-date=7 July 2008}}{{dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref> He was elected a Member of [[Organization:Academia Europaea|Academia Europaea]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Higham_Nicholas|title=Academy of Europe: Higham Nicholas|website=www.ae-info.org|access-date=2018-10-09}}</ref> In 2022 he became Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://raeng.org.uk/about-us/fellowship/new-fellows-2022/professor-nicholas-higham-freng-frs|title=Professor Nicholas Higham FREng FRS|website=raeng.org.uk|access-date=2022-12-08}}</ref>

Higham was a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications, a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He was also a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/researchers/nick-higham|title=Nick Higham|website=The Alan Turing Institute|language=en|access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{MathGenealogy|id=96012}}
*{{GitHub|higham}}
*{{ResearchGate|Nicholas_Higham}}
*[https://nhigham.com/ Nick Higham]


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[[Category:Numerical analysts]]

{{Sourceattribution|Nicholas Higham}}