I joined
the London
School of
Economics and Political Science
in 1990. I am
a Professor of Mathematics in
the Mathematics
Department, an academic governor (a member of LSE's governing
body, the
Council) and a former head of department.
I am originally from Paisley,
in the west of Scotland, near Glasgow. Growing up in Paisley, I
studied at the local
comprehensive, Castlehead
High
School,
then graduated from the University
of Glasgow with a BSc in Mathematics in 1988. I completed a PhD
in
Mathematics in
1991,
having studied at Royal
Holloway College and LSE. I also have an MA in Higher and
Professional
Education from the Institute of
Education,
University of London.
My research interests are focused on how we can use mathematics to say
provable things about machine learning. I won't bore you here
with the details: see my publications page for hours of enjoyment. If
you would like a non-technical overview, see this short video
or read this expository article.
I've taught a wide variety of courses at LSE (see my teaching page for
current courses) and have also been very involved with the University
of London's International
Programmes directed by LSE.
I live with my wife Colleen
and our son Alistair
in the cheaper end of leafy Twickenham,
a place I like very much. I enjoy vegetarian cookery, cycling,
listening
to music and reading fiction.
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